Wintery Warm Drabbles
by 3laxx
Summary: Winter! Christmas! What's our Miraculous Squad up to? I found a prompt list for 25 days and spontaneously decided hey, why not, let's see if I'll make it? So here's my prompt collection for Christmas!
1. Santa 'Claws' - Alya and Marinette

**Hey! A challenge!**  
 **Let's see if I'll make it and how many suggestions I'll get for the days ;)**  
 **Not much talking, more uploading!**

* * *

"And because of this, you girls better watch out!", Marinette hollered, making big motions with her arms, "Or otherwise, if you don't stay nice, Santa Claws will get you and eat all your sweets!"

Alya laughed and pulled her little sisters closer to her chest, cuddling them both.

"Or Maman will just get mad. That's what's more likely."

"But Santa Claws-", Marinette protested, only to get interrupted by Alya's laughter again.

"… Doesn't exist."

"… Existed last year!", she tried again, before Alya released her sisters, pressing them both a kiss on their hair.

"Yeah, yeah, alright, point taken. Still, you two gotta go to bed now."

Ella pouted, Etta following right after her.

"Aw, already? Can't Marinette tell us another story?"

"Of another Akuma?"

Alya firmly shook her head, stretching out her hands to pull them up. They had settled down on the couch after dinner for one episode of their favorite show because it was Friday, the twins snuggled up to both of Alya's sides. Then Marinette had begun telling a story and had, of course, overdone it but their big sister had decided that it was fine because hey, it was the weekend and she was their babysitter for today.

The twins unwillingly took Alya's hands and she pulled, Ella coming to her feet with a frown but Etta just flopped against her big sister's legs, blinking up to her.

"Can't we stay up a little longer?", she pleaded.

While Marinette laughed and already followed Ella to the bathroom, Alya lifted up Etta to throw the girl over her shoulder.

"Nope, no staying up for any longer. I promised to Maman you'd be in bed at 10 in the evening and that is now. We're already ten minutes late!"

Her little sister stifled a yawn (she was very grateful Alya hadn't seen that) and grumbled.

"Please, Alya? You'll get a chocolate from my Advent calendar!"

"Ampf wone opf mwine!", Ella shouted from the bathroom, her voice muffled by her toothbrush, listening up at the possibility of persuading her bigger sister. Alya merely laughed it off, setting Etta down on her feet to give her a small clap on her back, shooing her into the bathroom so she would brush her teeth as well.

"One whole piece? So you'll both be sad tomorrow? Not in my life. And now finish up, your bed's already calling!"

Marinette caught her gaze and giggled, then she cupped her hands around her mouth as the twins didn't look at her to whisper-yell.

"Ella…! Etta! Come to meee!", she said and immediately whistled and turned away with an innocent expression as the twins whipped around to her.

"See, I heard it! So, c'mon. Brush your teeth, Etta.", Alya giggled, amusement twinkling in her eyes as Marinette just barely held in her laughter.

"Ubnfair…", Ella complained before spitting out the toothpaste and washing her mouth out.

Ten minutes later the twins were tucked in, the room was dark save for the dark orange Christmas lamp on their window that was shaped like a star, and Marinette waited outside.

"Goodnight, Ella.", Alya mumbled, giving her a goodnight kiss on her forehead. The little girl smiled.

"… 'Night Alya…", she breathed, her eyes already drooping.

"And goodnight, Etta."

Her little sister sat up as Alya came to her bed, kneeling down beside it.

"Will Marinette stay for the night?", she asked.

"Mhm!", Alya reassured her, "You'll be able to show her what you've got in your Advent calendar."

Etta grinned as Alya held up her blanket so she could slip underneath it again. Then she pressed a kiss to her forehead as well.

"Sleep well, you two."

Ella already breathed deeply and Etta's smile grew heavy.

"… G'night, Alya.", she mumbled, before resting her head on her pillow.

The bigger girl smiled and tiptoed out of the door, quietly closing it.

"Alright, they'll sleep. What're we doing now?"

Marinette already wore a wicked smug on her lips.

"We-… We'll pick out the perfect outfit for you now.", she whispered as they quietly walked into Alya's room, careful to stay silent until they could close the door there as well. Then they talked in normal volume again.

"The perfect outfit for what?"

Marinette's grin grew bigger and she smirked as she pointed to Alya's big year calendar on her wall. The 2nd of December was marked red and Alya only now saw that a heart, that looked suspiciously like Marinette's style, was drawn into the free gap of the day.

"For your date with Nino!"

Alya could merely roll her eyes before Marinette already opened her drawer.

"It's not a date."

"And you're only saying that because you're denying it."

Alya sighed, shaking her head.

"It's seriously not a date. It's not like he'd have the courage to ask me out. We're just both helping out at the same Christmas fair booth, that's all. We probably won't even talk because it's always so busy on Saturdays."

"Still a date~", Marinette sang and Alya knew she couldn't win this.

"Just keep in mind that I'll have to stay warm, okay?"

* * *

 **You can also check me out on Ao3 under the same name (3laxx) and on tumblr under awesomefreckledjesus. And, of course, you can suggest ships or characters for each day here in the reviews, on Ao3 in the reviews or on tumblr, whichever you like!**


	2. Ugly Sweater - DJWifi

**Day 2! A little late but still!**  
 **And still an ongoing story :D**  
 **I got DJWifi comissioned for Day 2, 7, 14 and 16 as well as Marichat for day 5! If you want to suggest a ship, you can check out the tumblr list I reblogged that I'll copy into the notes at the end and suggest a ship!**  
 **Feel free to hit me up!**  
 **Enjoy~**

* * *

Alya huddled deeper into her jacket as the freezing wind played around her exposed legs. Well, her legs in a few leggings and jeans above that but still. She felt like the wind went right through down to her bones.

At least her jacket kept her remotely warm. That was something. Marinette had searched out an outfit for her that was stylish and still tried to keep her warm but she felt like freezing to an icicle regardless of her three layers of clothing.

At least the boost would keep her warm? And the work? Please?

She grumbled as she tried keeping her chin in the collar of the jacket, cursing herself for not putting on a scarf. She would've really needed a bit of warmth around her neck.

Dodging a few Christmas Fair goers, she made her way to the boost she had applied at as soon as she had heard Nino had gotten a job there. The people were nice and she admittedly had wanted to be a bit closer to him during the Christmas season. Well, who could blame her?

Maybe he'd get the vibe with all the cuddly, romantical, warm things against the bitter cold around them? She could only hope.

She reached the boost and greeted the owner, a middle-aged woman who always wore an amused twinkle in her warm, brown eyes. She was at least a head smaller than Alya but her voice more than made up for that.

"Aaaaah, Alya! It's so good to see you! Nino is already inside, please go join him and get ready, alright?"

Alya snickered and nodded, then fled into the relatively warm boost to escape from the cold winter air. Nino just turned to her, finishing to pull down a sweater with the logo of the boost shining on his chest. She couldn't help but break out in laughter.

"Oh god, Nino, what's that?!"

She was careful to keep her voice down just enough for the owner not to hear her. Nino managed a smile.

"Uh, well, our work uniform. You gotta wear that, too."

She still laughed at him and his – admittedly ugly – sweater but found herself not caring that she had to wear it as well. First, she didn't have to see it on herself and second, it just looked too funny for her to bother. He blushed by now as he handed her the sweater in her size.

"Oh god, how will we manage to wear this while working and not laugh our butts off?", she giggled while taking off her jacket, grabbing the sweater from him. He merely shrugged, watching her pull the abomination over her head and down to pull out her hair again.

"I honestly don't know. I'll probably start laughing everytime I look at you.", he remarked, an amused glimmer searching its way into his eyes.

"Heh, same.", she replied, pulling the sweater straight to look at the ultimate ugliness that was the logo, "Oh man, it really looks like it's gonna jump out of my chest and take a good part with me."

"It's a smiling bear.", he snickered and she nodded, playing serious.

"I know."

They remained silent for a second and then simultaneously burst out in laughter, desperately trying to keep it down not to hurt the owner's feelings. After a few seconds they were finally able to calm down, avoiding to look at the other not to start laughing again so they could focus on their work.

After a few minutes they had been given all the tasks by the owner and the Christmas fair was slowly getting busy so they quickly got used to their chores, giving out baked goods to the eager hands of the visitors. Their ugly sweaters were quickly forgotten over the inrush of people wanting to buy stuff from them and they were both so engrossed in their tasks, taking money, giving out their products, refilling the displays, that when the bell rang for their three-hour shift to be over, they didn't even feel like so much time had passed.

They were finally free to take off their sweater and hand it back to the owner again, leaving the warm boost to immediately zip up their jackets again.

"So, uhm-… Wanna stroll a bit over the fair? I dunno about you but I got time.", Nino carefully asked, so adorably tilting his head while burying his chin in his scarf that she had to smile alone from that.

"Uhm, yeah… Yeah. I still have time. I'd like to go over the fair with you."

He grinned and turned to begin their walk, her quickly catching with him to walk beside him.

"Do you want something? I-… I, uh, actually got a bit of money left that I can spend here… So if you want a hot chocolate or some sweets, just say something, alright?"

He turned his head to smile at her, making her insides all fuzzy and warm under his eyes that looked like molten gold, the color flowing around his iris in an endless circle.

"Thanks…", she mumbled, not finding the heart to tell him she got money on her own.

They walked next to each other for a while, their gaze getting caught by anything but each other, then they reached the center of the Christmas fair. A big pyramid was build up here, big candles that were as high as Nino himself standing on each corner of the base with big electrical lights on the top. They got to a stop on the fence keeping them away from the pyramid, watching all the figures on the three different levels and the big propeller on top, the soft humming of an electrical motor coming from the big pole in the middle of the construct. The figures were all skillfully carved out of wood, as big as normal humans, and beautifully painted in all colors.

The lowest base told the story of how Maria was told she'd become pregnant with the son of god and how she and her husband Joseph would start their journey. The second base told of their search for shelter and the third and last, the smallest one on top, showed the small baby Jesus, born and in Maria's arms.

Alya sighed contently, slightly leaning against him.

"The Christmas story always makes me kinda fuzzy… It's so full of love…"

Nino smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"It is.", he agreed, "It really is."

She smiled as she turned her head towards him a little bit, her nose brushing against his jacket to catch a little bit of his scent.

"Mmmh… I love that time of a year."

He chuckled, his chest jumping on her cheek.

"Who doesn't?"

* * *

 **December 1st - "Santa 'Claws'"**  
 **December 2nd - "Ugly Sweater" - DJwifi**  
 **December 3rd - "Peppermint"**  
 **December 4th - "Snow"**  
 **December 5th - "Shopping" - Marichat**  
 **December 6th - "Fuzzy"**  
 **December 7th - "Gift" - DJWifi**  
 **December 8th - "Jingle Bells"**  
 **December 9th - "Marshmallows"**  
 **December 10th - "Decorating"**  
 **December 11th - "The Tree"**  
 **December 12th - "Christmas Movie"**  
 **December 13th - "Christmas Cookies"**  
 **December 14th - "Secret Santa" - DJWifi**  
 **December 15th - "Caroling"**  
 **December 16th - "Family" - DJWifi**  
 **December 17th - "Christmas Music"**  
 **December 18th - "Warm"**  
 **December 19th - "Pretend BF/GF for family dinner"**  
 **December 20th - "Christmas Lights"**  
 **December 21st - "Freezing"**  
 **December 22nd - "Silent Night"**  
 **December 23rd - "Mistletoe"**  
 **December 24th - "Christmas Eve"**  
 **December 25th - ""Merry Christmas""**


	3. Peppermint - DJWifi

**Sorry it's so late...**

* * *

As it gradually got colder and darker they went on to keep moving, trying to stay warm. They both didn't want to get home, though, after all it was a free day and they wanted to stay with the other just a bit longer.

So, the logical conclusion was to get themselves a warm drink. Which Nino insisted on paying for, even if she tried to change his mind. He just pulled out his wallet and shook his head.

"I'm paying. End of discussion."

She rolled her eyes, bumping her shoulder against his arm.

"You're stubborn, you know that? Really, really stubborn."

He chuckled at that, shrugging lightly.

"Well, I must've inherited it from my mom. She's just as stubborn."

"No fair.", Alya huffed as they came to a halt at the end of a line, waiting to get a hot chocolate, "How are you so sweet?"

"What was that?", he grinned as she blushed.

"Nothing. We're the next in line so concentrate."

A deep, throaty laughter let her heart soar.

"I thought I heard something about 'sweet'?"

"Hot chocolate is sweet. Now focus.", she shrugged it off, trying to hide her blush in her jacket since she still didn't bring a scarf. Nino seemed to flinch momentarily but didn't do anything, instead turning to the options.

"What do you want? Plain hot chocolate?"

"Uhm, yeah.", she agreed, smiling again at how sweet he was, "Please."

"And you're not saying this because it's the cheapest?"

She had to laugh at that, softly slapping his shoulder and giggling even more as he mockingly yowled, scaring a few people around them.

"Well, I'll take the hot chocolate with peppermint. Sounds interesting!"

He ordered their drinks and looked down to her again, feeling bad as he saw her keeping her head low for her chin not to freeze.

"Hey, uhm-… Alya?"

Before she could even look up again he had already taken his scarf off and wrapped it around her neck, careful not to pull it too tightly or somehow obscure her face. She was dumbstruck as he tucked the ends of the scarf into her jacket on the back.

"Uh-… Nino? What-…"

"You seemed cold. And my jacket has a high collar anyway. So you can have my scarf.", he smiled warmly and she mirrored his expression, standing up on her tip toes to press a kiss to his cheek. As she pulled away again his eyes were widely opened and a blush was creeping up his neck.

"Thank you, Nino. Though, you're right, you don't seem to be cold.", she remarked with a smug smirk as his blush let his ears shine in a bright red.

"I-I'm not!", he quickly said, probably to reassure he that it was fine. She giggled and nodded.

"Cool, thank you then!"

Nino turned to pay for their hot chocolates and take both cups, then they started walking again as he handed her the plain hot chocolate and kept the one which held a scent of peppermint for himself. She watched him take a careful sip since it was still hot but he beamed as soon as he tasted it.

"Woah, that stuff is amazing! Wanna take a sip?"

She eyed the cup.

"I dunno, with peppermint? Can't really imagine how that'll taste."

"A little bit like after eight.", he chuckled and held out the cup for her, "Here, just try it. I think you'll like it."

She took a tiny sip, careful not to burn her lips but still taste the drink. As soon as the sweet chocolate paired with the fresh taste of the peppermint spread in her mouth she hummed.

"That's good… That's really good!"

"Do you want it?", he grinned but she shook her head, giving him back his cup.

"No, no, it's yours. I'll drink my hot chocolate, that's enough. But thank you, really!"

He just grinned, robbing her of her hot chocolate and exchanging their cups.

"It's yours. Consider it an early Christmas gift."

She blushed and quickly bent over her cup, causing her glasses to steam up again so she wouldn't have to look at him. He just laughed, staying close to her so she wouldn't run against anything, one arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Feeling warmer?", he asked.

"Yeah, definitely.", she answered but it was only half the truth. In her head she completed the sentence.

 _… With you, always._


	4. Snow - DJWifi

It snowed as they finally headed home. Thick, fluffy snowflakes set themselves on everything in sight, lanterns, parking cars, Nino's scarf.

Alya hummed as she buried her chin further in the warm fabric. It smelled like him. She smiled and breathed in, her hands in her pockets curling into fists to keep her fingers warm.

Nino next to her watched the snow. He observed how a thick snowflake slowly fell down, onto the sidewalk in front of him. Another one and another one. With every step he took there were new snowflakes. Tomorrow the snow would be higher than even today. Maybe even ten centimeters.

Nino loved watching the snow fall. He loved everything about the winter, the long nights and the white, soft, freezing coat that covered everything.

So while he observed another snowflake dropping down, he didn't even realize it landed on Alya's hat. He smiled as he watched another snowflake landing on her hat, keeping its form on the thick wool.

"…-ing on my head?", he suddenly heard.

"Hm?", he absentmindedly asked, humming as a thin coat of snow was created on her hat.

"…-sked if I had something on my head.", she tried again and he finally snapped out of it, looking down to her and feeling another blush creeping up his neck.

"Uh-…", he began, "No, no, I mean-… Yeah, snow, but, uhm-…"

Alya giggled so adorably his heart stuttered and he bit his lip not to immediately burst out with anything indicating he had a crush on her.

"Snow, huh? You have snow on your hat as well.", she smirked, reaching up to take a snowflake on her glove.

"Heh, seems to be snowing pretty badly, hm?"

She nodded, pulling off one glove to be able to look on her phone and check the temperature. She softly gasped so he peered over her shoulder, making out a minus and then a 10 as another small cloud of her breath cleared his view again.

"Woah, that's cold."

She nodded, then glanced down to his hands.

"Yeah, and you're not wearing gloves. Dude, you must be freezing!"

He merely shrugged as she put her phone away again, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"A little, yeah, but not that bad. My collar is pretty high and my jacket is-… What're you doing?"

"Taking your hand.", she idly explained, concentrating on interlacing their fingers, before tucking their entwined hands into her own jacket. Then she proceeded walking, pulling him with her.

"Uh-…"

"Now you'll get warmer.", she explained, not even needing to fight against any nervousness because he was cold, he had to be warmed. Alya just had a switch to "mom friend".

He nodded, his head feeling like it was already boiling from heating up so much.

"Uh, th-thanks.", he mumbled, squeezing her gloved hand a little in her pocket. Her keys pushed a little into his knuckles and he had to walk slightly bent down to her but he couldn't imagine a better position to ever be in. It felt so warm and comfortable, being with her like this.

They remained like this for the rest of the walk to Alya's house, Nino firmly claiming Marinette would kill him if he let her go home alone. In front of the door of her family's house they turned to each other, smiling when their gazes met.

"Sooo…", he began.

"Yeah.", she agreed. And for a moment, the world seemed to stand still. Nino's hand in her pocket was still enveloped by hers, comfortably warm, while his other hand screamed for her as well. Not because of the warmth but rather because of the feeling. He chuckled nervously, a small smile searching its way to the corners of his lips.

She on the other hand couldn't suppress a grin even if she wanted to. His eyes were glimmering like a tiger's eye in the scarce light of the street lanterns, golden and warm. She immediately felt herself melting from just adoring the contrast of the white of his eyes and teeth to his dark skin and golden eyes. One could say about her what they wanted, if she was in love or if she'd ever say something or not, but Nino was a beautiful boy. His jawline was round but already hinted to a few more defined edges, an indication that he'd become really handsome once he got out of puberty.

And while Alya dreaded to touch it, feel his warm – or probably now rather cold – skin under her gloved hands, he looked at her with the same adoration.

Her eyes had a unique color and he could never quite decide if he saw green in the hazel because he was always falling for her all over again before he got a good look on the color. Her skin was so soft, almost seeming like a small memory to her childhood, baby skin. Marinette always called it baby skin, an homage to her sisters, to annoy Alya.

Nino had to disagree. While it probably was a small remnant form her childhood, he'd rather call it peach skin. It was soft, he could tell, and he'd very much like kissing her cheeks just to test it out.

If she would allow him? If he could tell her?

And like a clap ripping them out of the moment, it was gone. They laughed, parted their hands and Nino waved her as she went inside.

And all that he kept from the evening was a smile, a soft goodbye and a feathery feeling of the chocolate and peppermint kiss she left on his skin.

And that was all he needed.


	5. Shopping - Marichat

**Sorry it's so late again, I was busy with university and the ML secret santa exchange ':D**

* * *

Marinette still didn't have all her Christmas presents together and she had originally wanted to do this before the shops would be bursting. But of course, she had started late – _again_.

Let's see, she still had to get something for her mother, for her father she had knitted a hat for the winter, for Alya she had already gotten started on a Ladybug themed outfit, for Adrien she needed something and she doubted Nino would need another pair of headphones. Did she think of Mylène? She knew she had something for Ivan and Nathaniel… And-… Oh gosh, Alix… No, wait she had made the covers for her arms. They were made to shield her from the straps of her protections, for skating. Since she had always complained the straps scratched her skin.

Hm… She already had something for Kim and Max and Rose and Juleka would get something sweet for their first Christmas as a couple. Meaning she had to bake something which she could only do a few days before so that fell away. Sabrina… She even had something for Chloé!

A small plushie of a bee, loosely based on Tikki. Since she had picked up Tikki that one time and had apparently found her cute.

 _Well, who didn't think Tikki was cute_ , Marinette thought to herself. The people who had seen her, at least. She didn't really know why she had thought of Chloé and decided to give her such a personalized gift, though…

It had just popped into her mind and she had sewed it. So she had decided to wrap it and just shrugged. Chloé had already shown that she tried to be better. She honestly deserved a gift.

Now, she had to get something for her mother, for Adrien, for Nino, for-…

Ugh, she should've made a list.

On the other hand, she would've lost the list so what was the use in trying to plan this.

"Hey Tikki?", she whispered as inconspicuously as possible, one of her hands going to her chest, She had packed a few handwarmers into the inner pocket of her jacket as well as mittens that had become too small for her to keep her little Kwami warm. Tikki absolutely didn't like the cold, "Tikki?"

"Yeah, Marinette?", came back, sleepy and quiet.

"Do you know if I already got a present for Mylène?", she quickly asked, eyeing the people around her, on a hunt for Christmas presents as well. She just hoped nobody would notice the girl talking to her jacket. And the jacket answering.

"Not for Mylène.", the answer came and Marinette sighed deeply.

"Okay… Damnit… Do you need another handwarmer?", she carefully asked, feeling the Kwami shifting under her hand.

"Yes, please."

Marinette nodded and came to a halt, setting her backpack down to fish another handwarmer from the depths of the bag. She found one she hadn't used yet and clicked it, then quickly opened her jacket and the inner pocket to take the colder, hard one out and put the warming up one in.

"There you go, Tikki… You okay?"

Her Kwami nodded and snuggled against the handwarmer, slowly stopping to tremble.

"Yes, I'm okay. Thank you, Marinette."

"Not a problem.", the girl smiled and closed her pocket and jacket again, keeping Tikki close to the warmest area of her body, "There we go. Now let's see, I need something for Mylène, Mom, Adrien, Nino-… And-… Ugh… Just why is this always so ha-"

"Talking to yourself, purrincess?", she suddenly got interrupted and whipped around to see Chat Noir standing behind her, tall and wearing his chesire grin.

"Wha-…"

"I was just passing here. Am I bugging you, princess?"

Marinette internally groaned at his puns but kept the eye roll to herself.

"Chat Noir, what an honor!", she cringed at how much she sounded like a fangirl, "What're you doing here?"

She of course knew what he was doing. Being the curious cat that he was, sniffling around and doing patrol.

Well, okay that was mean, she had after all worked out a schedule with him and he had patrol today. It's just that he should do that and not talk with random citizens instead of keeping his eyes open.

"Oh, I'm just on patrol.", he grinned and flexed.

 _Called it_ , Marinette dryly commented in her mind.

"And what're you doing here, out in the cold, completely alone? Need someone to protect you?"

She laughed at that, shaking her head.

"Certainly not. I'm just looking for Christmas presents, I still need a few."

Chat's eyes widened and he face palmed, groaning.

"I forgot those! I've been totally busy! Oh man…", then he smirked mischievously, "Hey, we could go together!"

"Wha-… Wha?!", she stuttered intelligently.

"Well, I happen to have my superhero card with me in case I got hungry or something. So I can go shopping with you!"

"Uh-…", too many questions swirled around in Marinette's mind. Where the hell did he get a superhero card and why didn't she have one? Why did he think it was a good idea to go shopping with her? Why didn't he just finish his patrol and flee to his warm home? How should she deal with this now?!

"That okay with you?", he beamed and she actually couldn't say no to his excited face. He really wanted to go shopping with her, huh?

"Fine…?", she sorts of asked, tilting her head, "Uh, just-… If you have a 'superhero card', is that like-… A credit card? Won't your real name appear then?"

He shook his head, grinning widely.

"Nah, I created it under my superhero persona, Chat Noir. Took a bit to hide it from my Papa but he's not really the caring type so I was relatively free to do what I want. Loaded money from my civilian account on it and voilà, done."

She slowly nodded, silently envying him. First, he had pockets. Second, he could create a bank account without his parents' supervision and put it on his superhero name and third, he apparently had enough money. She would really have to talk to him how he did that. Oh, and to Tikki. She wanted pockets, too.

"Oh, cool…", she mumbled, then she turned, the handwarmer reassuringly pressed against her chest, "So, you really wanna come with me? In suit and everything?"

He chuckled as he caught up with her, beginning to walk beside her.

"What, is that embarrassing for you?"

She shook her head.

"No just-… You could attract a lot of attention and I honestly just wanna get this over with. Buying Christmas presents has never been a favorite of mine. I like giving people things and I love creating presents but buying them?", she shrugged, "Just not that fun. But I can sew something for everyone everytime."

Chat put a hand on her shoulder and she tensed slightly but managed to play it off as excitement by shooting him an unsure smile.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely make this a lot funnier than you might expect!"


	6. Fuzzy - Marichat

**Finally I caught up again. Let's see if I'll hold it :D**

* * *

"Marinette, Marinette!", Chat Noir called through the store and she groaned, letting go of a really nice test piece of fabric to join him.

"What?"

She found him in another corner full of cheap polyester fur that should create the illusion of being fluffy while it would immediately lose all it's volume after washing it once.

"What's up?"

The black clad superhero stood on a roll of an extra fluffy material, something Marinette's experienced eye would already put in the dumpster before even thinking about touching it.

Chat, on the contrary, seemed very intrigued. He playfully batted at the fabric again and again, smiling brightly.

"Look how fuzzy it is! It's so soft and nice and mmmmh, I wanna bury my face in it!", as he said it he did it. She was about to warn him of the smell but before she could even react he already had his face deeply in the material. Then he stilled.

Marinette started giggling as his tail slowly went up and he took a hesitant step back, wrinkling his nose. She supposed his animal tendencies took over – as did hers when she was in a flower shop, ugh – as he slowly retreated to where she stood, edging behind her. His eyebrows were furrowed and the cat-like slits narrowed to a thin line. His nose was still wrinkled as his hands slowly went to her shoulder, holding onto her as he half hid behind her.

"Chat doesn't like this.", he snarled, "It's evil smelling."

Her dams broke and she wailed of laughing while his body stance stayed tense, still holding her shoulder hostage to shield him from the evil, evil enemy.

"It's lured me in to trap me. It was a trap, Marinette. Don't trust this.", he accused the fuzzy looking fabric, a growl building up in his throat.

She still laughed, tempted to double over if he hadn't held onto her.

"W-Well, it's not w-w-washed hahahah, of course it smells intense!", she choked out between laughter, patting his hands, "But if you wash it, the f-fuzziness is gone."

He slowly pulled her back, away from the roll of fluff, obviously wanting to protect her while hiding behind her.

"It's evil. I don't wanna be near that anymore."

"Good!", she still giggled as she turned to him, easing his hands off her shoulder, "Because I actually need your opinion on something! Come with me?"

He curiously tilted his head, the fuzzy, evil trap already forgotten over the new, exciting promise.

"An opinion on what?"

Marinette grinned as she led him back to where she had been, to a table with a few test pieces of leather. She had lined them up after color and now pulled out a piece of dark orange fabric with a plaid pattern from her pocket where she had tucked it as she had gone to find Chat. He looked over her shoulder, his chest lightly bumping against her back. Somehow, she found it relaxing to have him so close.

"Here, that's a little piece of the fabric I'm making the jacket of. I'm making a jacket for Alya, my best friend. She always wears that shirt she has but it's a little cold and she has this weird habit of leaving her jacket open so that her shirt is still visible. Yeah, I know."

He chuckled as he remembered one particularly funny scene where Alya had crossed her arms on the schoolyard and told Marinette that she was cold. The girl had just opened her arms and zipped her jacket up, with a deadpanning gaze. It was only natural of Marinette to meet both her wishes to maintain her outfit and stay warm by combining them.

"I already have the lining and the outer fabric for the look, it's this thick, plaid cotton flannel here. But since it'd look a little weird if Alya only wore it plain like this I'm kinda going for a little more, y'know-…", she snapped her fingers to make the word appear but struggled to find the right description.

"Lumberjack-design?", Chat asked and she burst out giggling.

"You could say that, yeah. I want those leather ovals on her elbows. So I'm searching for the right color. What do you think, which one would fit this color the best?"

He hummed, then pointed to a very light brown and a very dark brown.

"You wanna create a contrast to the base color, yes? So you either wanna take a brighter or a darker color. It'll look better than blending in. And now we gotta consider what kind of personality Alya is. Best resemblance would probably be what kind of chocolate she likes the best."

Marinette was dumbstruck. How did he switch from intrigued to very helplessly overrun by animal tendencies to highly professional in the blink of an eye?!

"Uhm-… Dark chocolate…?"

"Almost guessed that! Or no, wait, what's the lining made of?", he took the cotton flannel piece from her fingers and looked at her expectantly, "Do you have another piece with you?"

"Y-Yeah, wait…", she fished out the other piece, a dark brown, very fluffy patch, "This here."

His eyes lit up and he nearly batted at that, too, before catching his hand and instead calmly taking the piece.

"I think the dark brown leather would be perfect. It sets a nice contrast to the outer base color but harmonizes with the lining. Oh, wait, but the darkest brown would be a little too dark. I'd take this one.", he held up the leather test piece next to the flannel and the lining she had brought, "What do you think?"

Oh, she thought a lot. Most of her thoughts were questions to retort, though.

"… Th-Think it's nice?", she managed, not quite able to ban a slight, surprised squeak from her voice.

"Cool! But leather is quite expensive… Do you have enough money?"

She shook her head, still asking herself where the hell he learned to analyze the harmonies of clothes with a personality so quickly. And why could he assume what kind of chocolate Alya liked?!

"Uhm, no, I wanna finish my Christmas present shopping first and give her the jacket as soon as I have money again?"

He merely laughed and shook his head, grabbing the leather piece of his choice.

"You'll be able finish the jacket by Christmas?"

"Yeah, I would. I still need to make a few adjustments and the leather is still missing but it's finished as far as-"

"Great!", he interjected her rambling, searching for an employee, "So, where can we find-… Ah! Hello?"

Before she could even process what had happened, Chat had the employee cut off way more leather than she needed.

"Uhm, Chat-"

"Will that be all, Chat Noir?", the employee asked him and he grinned down to Marinette, shaking his head.

"Not quite. Please store it at the checkout, we'll be back in a bit."

Marinette got pulled into the section where the cotton flannels were stored and he jumped up and down of excitement as he turned to her.

"Okay, Chat, what is this about?"

"I wanna wish for a jacket from you! I'll pay the fabric and I'll pay you for making it and everything, I just think your designs are so cool! And I really wanna make Paris see that!"

The only question that her brain still registered as he turned to the fabrics lined up in the storage shelves was a very obvious one.

"Where the hell do you take all the money?"


	7. Gift - DJWifi

**Still in time!**

* * *

"What're you doing?", Nino asked, looking over Alya's shoulder. After their kinda-date a few days back they had agreed on meeting more often since they had gotten along quite well.

"I'm working.", she grumbled, her shoulders hunched and her legs folded beneath her des chair. Nino chuckled, looking down at her hands. Fabric? Wasn't that Mari's thing?

"And what're you working on?"

She huffed as she pricked herself yet again with the needle, then rolled her eyes.

"Christmas gift for Mari.", her short answer came back and he smiled, nodding.

"Mhm… And what will it be?"

She whipped around to him, taking him by surprise. Though, it was quite a surprise for her as well as her head bumped against his chest. They both jumped back before beginning to chuckle a bit.

"Weren't you mixing just now? What about that?"

Nino shrugged, coming closer again to skeptically eye the experiment on her desk.

"I'm finished. So, what's it gonna be? Or-… What should it be?"

She glanced back at her poor work and sighed.

"Well, it originally was supposed to be an attempt at making her a new purse. The old one is kinda worn out and I don't really think she wants to wear the one she made of the shirt her grandma brought her for her last birthday."

He hummed as he remembered.

"You mean it's not her color scheme?"

"Yep.", Alya agreed, then turned back to her work, "Well but the purse failed because of obvious reasons so now I'm making her a simple pencil case. That girl seriously has all her pencils on her desk. No wonder she constantly grabs the wrong one and loses them."

He laughed as he leant against her chair, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"So you're trying to make her a practical gift, huh?", that was so Alya. When she searched for a present she always had to make it practical. Alya giving necklaces? Or figurines? No, she always searched for the most practical, most logical gift. For his last birthday he had received a holder for his headphones since he had complained about them never having a real place. He had a relatively small desk, no case for them and so he had worn them around his neck most of the times. Now they had a place, thanks to her.

"Yeah, of course. I mean, what would she wanna do with something she doesn't even use? Okay, admittedly, I already bought a gift for her but I wanted to do something personal as well…", she sighed as she leant back against him, tilting her head up so she could meet his gaze, "Doesn't really work, though, huh?"

He furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed the piece of fabric she was struggling with. She had obviously taken her own as an example and it didn't exactly look bad, just-… Inexperienced. He would struggle just the same.

"Well, I think you just need to finish up the edges here, cut a bit of fabric down here and then you can turn it and it'll be a pencil case. Though… I have no idea how to connect a zipper to this…"

She shook her head, shrugging.

"I'm not doing a zipper because I dunno either. I'll do buttons, two."

He nodded, humming.

"With a hole in the other side or a snapper that you'll sew on as well?", he asked. She hummed, shrugging as she took the experiment from his hand again.

"Well, I dunno yet. But I was thinking maybe one button would do since it's so high and she can just wrap it around her pencils like that? Like, have a button on the back and-… And-… Then do that and-…"

Nino smirked as she focused on her theory again, walking back until he sat down on her bed. She was busy now so he could actually get to a bit of homework. Or-… Or he could ditch literature and look at her for a bit… Yeah, maybe he would just do that…

The boy laid on his side, hiding a little behind his opened laptop, putting in one earphone to still hear her but also be able to quietly listen to music. He clicked on Shuffle on one of his playlists and Ed Sheeran began singing. With a quick glance he confirmed it was 'Perfect'.

He smirked, looking up to the girl sitting on the desk.

Just perfect.

The soft sounds in his ear were fitting for the calm situation and he silently hummed along with the song, smiling when she sat up and straightened her back, in contrary to sitting hunched over like before.

His gaze only briefly travelled over her waistline before coming to a halt on the tip of her nose. He just loved her nose. Okay, he loved everything about her but her nose particularly. It was so tiny in comparison to his and he really wondered how it would feel to rub his against hers right before kissing her. With a dreamy smile he didn't even realize his perspective on her nose changing when she turned to him. She furrowed her eyebrows, her beautifully formed eyebrows and seemed to say something. And repeat it. Then she was suddenly in front of him.

The brush of her incredible scent washed over his nose as she softly pressed a hand against his forehead. He gulped as his ears slowly decided to function again.

"… I think you're heating up a little.", she finally concluded but he shook his head.

"N-Nah, I'm good!", he managed and grinned, "You go back to work on your gift! I was just-… Distracted… By the song."

She glanced down on his laptop and smiled as she saw the title.

"Wait, I'll just play music over my speakers. Give me your playlist? Yours are always the best."

He blushed as he quickly sent her a link.

"Cool! Thanks!"

He relaxed again until a crash sounded, quickly followed by her phone chiming up.

"Akuma attack!", she shouted and was already out of her room. He sighed as he sat up, shaking his head as the front door fell closed after her. Of course she didn't take a jacket with her. That was his job after all.

With another heavy sigh he got up, following her to take care she wouldn't break her neck.

 _Again._


	8. Jingle Bells - Ladynoir

**Forgive me the innuendo, I guess.**  
 **I'm tired and should go to bed but I gotta finish this.**

* * *

"I am Summer Sale!", the Akuma hollered, "And I'll get everyone a discount!"

Marinette groaned as she ducked away in an empty alleyway. Of course, of course she would have to stumble over an Akuma while trying to finish her Christmas shopping, everything she hadn't managed when Chat had accompanied her.

But no, of course an Akuma had to show up.

In the freezing cold. Why in the freezing cold?

Why couldn't Hawkmoth wait until it was summer again? Or at least spring? She was so much better at dealing with Akuma's in warmer temperatures… In the cold she felt so heavy, so immobile…

"You want a discount?!", the Akuma screeched again and she heard some people screaming and running away.

Stupid Hawkmoth…

" _Tikki, spots on!_ ", she whispered, careful so that nobody would see her transform. A flash of pink light later Ladybug swung out of the alley, an annoyed frown clouding her face. She absolutely didn't like the idea of fighting an Akuma now.

"Ah, Ladybug!", the Akuma sneered, "For you, I'll do an 80% discount!"

"Not interested…", she sighed.

Just in that moment, Chat Nor appeared next to her, grinning at her.

"Oh, I don't know, m'lady, I don't think I'd say no to a discount this big."

She rolled her eyes.

"You mangey alley cat…"

They both surged into the fight to test out the Akuma's abilities, Chat still trying to get her in a better mood.

"Hey m'lady, know why Christmas is my favorite holiday?"

She had to suppress a giggle at him trying to uphold a conversation while he dodged the percentage signs that the Akuma threw at him.

"Why, my kitty?"

He momentarily stopped at her calling him her kitty but quickly caught himself as the Akuma landed a good punch on him.

"Because of the jingle bells! I mean, just look at me, it's perfect for me!"

She heard the sound of a bell and as she glanced over, she saw him snapping at his bell. A brief snort escaped her mouth and she shook her head.

"Keep your whiskers in the fight, Chaton. I don't have time to sing right now."

"Aw, but bugaboo, I'd love to hear you singing!"

She grumbled, furrowing her eyebrows at the Akuma throwing a few shoots at her.

"I'd love to hear him singing instead, to be honest. Any ideas?"

Chat merely shrugged.

"Nope. Not really. Wanna try distracting?"

"Distracting with what?", she retorted, ducking out of the way.

"Well, I could always-"

"Chat, I swear to god-", she began, "… If you start jingling your bell again I'll shake you so long the sound alone will make you regret Christmas exists."

He suddenly laughed at that but didn't respond anything. After all the fight got more intense shortly after that.

* * *

"So, would you do it if I annoyed you long enough?", he asked when she purified the Akuma, throwing her sewing needle in the air to cleanse everything the Akuma had done.

"Do what?"

"Shake my bell?", he laughed and for some reason she got the feeling she didn't understand something here.

"Uhm-… You can wait for that until Christmas Eve."

He was very, very red when she left and it gave her some kind of satisfaction.

After all, he really was a jokester and a big flirt, it was kinda fulfilling to see him speechless one time or another. She giggled to herself on her way back to the shops where she had been surprised by the Akuma.

Maybe he'd join her for shopping again.


	9. Marshmallow - Marichat

**Yesssss, did it.  
Not corrected, not long, not anything but did it!  
Bear with me :D**

* * *

"Okay, Chat, I'm completely frozen. I wanna go home."

He pouted as he took her bag from her, also gesturing for her backpack. She was exhausted after the Akuma attack and she had luckily finished all her Christmas presents by now. Chat had come by after recharging and had seen her so he had joined her again.

"But that means I'll have to say goodbye?", he looked at her through kitten eyes and she giggled.

"Well, you can always come to my home with me as long as you haven't got other plans and drink a cocoa with me."

His ears flicked at that and his lips split into a big smile.

"I don't have any other plans and I would love to drink a cocoa with you!", he smirked, "Wanna take the Chat Noir express?"

She laughed at that as she handed him her backpack, shrugging.

"It's faster than walking!", he added

"But a little cold."

"You're faster out of the cold, even if it's gonna be windy.", he winked and she laughed uneasily. Normally she was in charge of swinging across the rooftops. He had carried her a few times before and she had felt uneasy, being so helpless and vulnerable, but he was right.

She would be out of the cold faster.

"Hmmm…", she hummed, "… Fine. The Chat Noir express it is."

He beamed at her and scooped her up in bridal style faster than she could complain.

"Hold on tight, princess.", he purred, then he took off with the help of his baton. Her arms locked around his neck, her backpack on his back and her bag with the presents hanging from his hand on her knee bends. He was careful not to jostle it too much, much to her relief.

Just five minutes later they were at her home and landed on the balcony. She let out a small sigh as she let go of him, standing on her own two feet again.

"You okay?", he asked, obviously worried. She merely nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, of course! Thank you, Chat!"

He grinned and helped her inside, then brushed off his boots and followed her not to make a mess. She smirked at him.

"Can't you take them off?", she asked.

He shrugged, sitting down on her chaise as she began storing away her presents to hide them.

"I actually don't know. I could try?", he questioningly said, maybe even doubting it himself. With a pull, though, his first boot was off and revealed a white sock, something very different than what Marinette had expected.

"Well, seems like it's working!", she slowly replied, staring at his now bootless feet. She had not expected that. And she certainly wanted a suit change. She had to ask Tikki.

"Can you take off your gloves as well?"

He tried and pulled them off, revealing normal human hands, not with claws.

"Huh, cool.", he mumbled, smiling to himself.

"Great! Then you can feel the warmth of the cup!", she grinned, forcing herself not to immediately talk to her Kwami. She didn't want to be reduced to only spandex without pockets or gloves that she could take off.

A few moments later she returned with two cups and they both sat in front of their steaming drink, mini marshmallows swimming in the hot, brown liquid. Marinette smiled as Chat poked at them, obviously unsure.

"Never had marshmallows in your hot chocolate before?", she asked, amused. He shrugged at that, then nodded.

"Yeah. I kinda wonder how it tastes."

She giggled, taking a sip and fishing out a marshmallow at the same time to taste it.

"Just try it. I can't believe you never had a marshmallow in your drink before."

He hummed, slightly frowning.

"Well, my father kinda doesn't allow it. I have a strict diet and, well, marshmallows are a no-go food."

"Good thing your father isn't here, then.", she smirked, internally feeling herself get worked up about this. Chat was skinny enough as he was, he didn't need a diet. Or, well, maybe it was for his health but then he would've declined the marshmallows.

"You'll always get some marshmallows here.", she promised him under her breath as he carefully imitated her in fishing out a marshmallow, eating it.


	10. Decorating - Sabrina and Chloé

**It's slowly getting harder to keep up my schedule but I'll manage!**

* * *

"Hey Chloé, look up!", Sabrina suddenly chimed up, merely earning an eyeroll from her best friend. As she glanced to the side she saw her looking into her phone, scrolling through some guy's Instagram page. Sabrina sighed and adjusted her arm that was wrapped around Chloé's, not to let her walk into something. Then she looked up again.

The lights were beautiful. Paris had truly outdone itself once again with the Christmas decorations and the streets were as bright as day with wonderful colors and sparkling lights.

Sabrina sighed as a smile snuck to her lips as the lights brightened her face. She took care to pull Chloé away from a street lantern and looked up again, grinning at the big Christmas tree.

"Chloé, Chloé, look! It's so beautiful."

"Sabrina, I'm busy, can't you see?" her friend snapped back and Sabrina nodded.

"I do, but-"

Chloé sighed and changed to a tone in which she would only speak to a very young child.

"Well and why are you still bothering me, then?"

Sabrina watched her scrolling further down on her phone and sighed, then she looked at the Christmas decorations again. They were just wonderful. Chloé's loss if she didn't want to see them. Even though Sabrina really wanted to show her.

She didn't want to get snapped at again, though.

So the girl remained silent, watching the lights for herself and a little bit for Chloé as well. It surely was important, what Chloé was doing. She couldn't blame her.

Well, and she was able to take care of her so she wouldn't run against something! So she was needed right?

Sabrina smiled at a few light strings that were thrown over a few teddy bears in a shop window. The bears really looked cute while holding the strings of light…

Ah, she had just been about to say something again. No can do, Chloé was busy with something important!

They continued walking in a slow speed, Sabrina carefully watching their steps and the lights. She was so entranced after a while though, that she didn't notice she was walking towards a pole herself. But just before she bumped against it, she felt a tug on her arm. Chloé pulled her a step to the side, preventing a crash with the pole. Sabrina looked up to her and saw her fighting a little smirk, her gaze still fixed on the phone.

"Thanks, Chloé…", the girl whispered, dumbstruck. It was her job to dodge the obstacles for Chloé-… Wasn't it?

"Watch where you're going.", her best friend replied and Sabrina heard the caring undertone beneath the sharp words. She smiled as they continued walking, now giving extra attention to their steps, wanting to repay for Chloé what the blonde had done for her.

Though, as they had gone a few steps, she tugged on her arm again, making Sabrina look up to her.

"Hey, I didn't bring you here so that you would only watch the dirty floor."

Sabrina was confused at first but as she understood what Chloé meant, she hugged her arm tighter. The girl just brushed it off and moved her arm a bit so that her friend wouldn't squeeze it anymore but Sabrina figured that was just a reflex. She grinned as she caught Chloé's gaze again.

"Well, I knew you'd like the decorations, obviously I know everything about you.", the blonde said and Sabrina saw the small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She only grinned wider.

"Of course, Chloé!", she replied, looking up again. After a short while her wide eyes watching the lights softened a bit and she whispered, "… Thank you."

"You're welcome.", and Sabrina halted. Her gaze wandered to Chloé and her mouth stood open. She had never received such an answer from her.

"Uh…"

Chloé put her phone away and Sabrina actually saw a little smirk on her face now.

"Don't you stare at me like that. Now, I'm cold. Let's find a Starbucks. I'll pay."

"Uhm-… Yeah, of course!", she beamed, "Thank you so much, Chloé!"

The blonde merely shrugged and began walking down the street again, waiting until the redhead next to her would look up t watch the lights again. Then she looked up as well, her heart jumping at the sight. She had of course watched the lights in the reflection of her phone already but seeing them like this made her smile, a wide, happy smile.

So her father had used her proposal for new Christmas decorations. And he had even used some of her ideas.

Sabrina awed at another decorated tree that caught her attention and Chloé had to grin.

She had hoped her best friend would like them.


	11. The Tree - Nino and Adrien

**Working on it again!**

* * *

"So, bro, have you ever cut down a tree?"

Adrien rolled his eyes at his best friend.

"Dude, I haven't grown up on the moon and just because my father is wealthy doesn't mean I'm made of porcelain. So yeah, I've-… Watched… Once."

Nino laughed louder, his eyes sparkling of amusement.

"Alright, then you're my man. So, I need your help. I was assigned to get the tree for a Christmas fair and honestly, I don't wanna do this alone. Or, well, at least not with the guys I was assigned with. They're kinda idiots."

The blonde laughed and patted Nino's shoulder.

"Aw, poor Nino. You have to work with people you don't like?", he chuckled, "You big baby boo."

His best friend groaned and leant back as he left the classroom along with everyone else, the school day being over.

"C'mon, Adrien, take me seriously!"

"You didn't either! Besides, how did you get yourself into this again?"

Nino groaned louder and Adrien already smirked, knowing what would come now.

"Oh, you know, my Maman knows people which know people which know people and then she talked with someone who knows someone and this someone is friends with someone else who is a helper at the Christmas Fair and then she talked with them and they complained and stuff and before I knew it, my name appeared on that freaking helping list! Like, how? And why? I have better things to do than to chop down a tree with some losers like me."

The blonde grinned, wrapping his arm around Nino's shoulder. He patted his shoulder and pulled his hat down to annoy him.

"Alright, Nino. I'll help you chop down that tree. I'm sure we can do it without a problem."

Nino grinned, relieved to have a friend like Adrien.

"Nice, bro, thanks!"

* * *

"So, uhm-… And you're sure it's gonna be _this_ tree?", Adrien asked, uncertain at the size of that. Nino just shrugged next to him, his face still contorted in a frown that the other guys had left them hanging as soon as they had known Nino was assigned to the job.

So, Adrien and Nino had asked Nino's father to drive them there with a lent pick-up and get the tree. Unfortunately, the tree had to be about three meters high.

"Well, at least we're not getting the tree for the Christmas Fair at Champs Elysees. That would've been a struggle."

Adrien hummed, shrugging again.

"Well, I think this one is already big enough. You got the saw?"

Nino nodded.

"I got the saw. I'll work on the tree and you gotta watch that It falls right. Can you throw a lasso?"

Adrien looked at him with wide eyes.

"Uh, lasso?"

"Yeah, to fasten a rope on top of the tree, so it won't fall on top of me.", Nino explained. Adrien gulped and looked up to the tree again.

"I can try, I guess?"

Nino nodded, grinning widely.

"Nice! Then go ahead and try!", he chuckled, gripping the saw tighter, "Got the rope?"

The blonde rolled his eyes and nodded, taking the rope from his shoulder.

"Okay, let's get this over with.", he did a simple knot and threw the rope up, needing a few attempts before he got the sling over the top of the tree and fastened it. Then he nodded to his best friend.

"Okay, I got it. In which direction should I pull?"

Nino gestured to the opposite direction at where he would start with the saw.

"To there. But only gently. We just need the tree falling in the direction, if you pull with force I'll get hurt by splinters."

Adrien gave him a thumb up before Nino vanished between the lower twigs, starting to saw the trunk of the tree. After a few minutes of waiting, talking and mostly laughing, the tree finally tilted. Nino sped up to get as much of the trunk as possible, then he let himself fall back as the tree fell to the side. Adrien widely grinned at Nino and almost jumped up and down but could barely suppress the urge.

"Dude, that's the first tree I brought down!"

They laughed as Nino brushed off the snow and got to his feet again.

"Let's just get this damned tree to the Christmas Fair, then we'll be good."

"Aye, aye, sir!", Adrien mockingly smirked.


	12. Christmas Movie - DJWifi

**Back on track and trying to stay again!**

* * *

"What do you think of Christmas Movies, Lahiffe?"

Nino only groaned.

"Which one do I have to watch?", he complained from her couch, his head rolling back against the headrest.

Alya laughed, shaking her head.

"Well, my Maman likes the comedies but I'm more of a children's movie type."

"Everything but the Grinch.", he whined, earning another giggle from her.

"How do you feel about 'Rise of the Guardians'?", she asked, grinning back at him. He laid splayed on the couch in her home after they agreed on meeting again and she just couldn't get over how cute he looked, eyeing her like that.

"Never watched it, to be honest…", he slowly said, furrowing his eyebrows, "Is it good?"

She grinned and put in the movie, flopping down next to him after setting everything up.

"Absolutely. One of the cutest movies I ever watched."

He grinned at that and offered to hug her by lifting his arm which she willingly accepted. He blushed as she snuggled close to him, resting her head on his chest.

"So it's worth it?"

"Mhm, completely worth it. I really like this movie. Trust when I say that we don't have it because of my sisters."

He grinned and brushed over her hair, scratching her a bit. She hummed and slumped her arm over his stomach.

"We really need to do this more often. Mari is a good cuddler but for some reason this girl is a concrete block to lay on. You're softer."

Nino laughed, holding out his free hand to her, spreading his fingers. She took it and interlaced their fingers while sneaking her lower arm beneath his back, now hugging him while playing with his fingers.

"You know, we can do this from now on. We can just-… Do this."

She furrowed her eyebrows, paused the movie and propped herself up on her elbow, turning her head towards him. Her hand stayed in his, though.

"What do you mean?"

He felt his ears heating up but tried to ignore it while holding her gaze.

"W-Well-… I wanna do this more often… I, uhm-… I wanna meet up with you more often and-… I wanna cuddle with you and-…", he gulped and awkwardly nodded, making her smile at him.

"Okay! Let's meet up more often."

He sighed and tried a smile, too, but it came out shakier than he wanted. His hand that held hers was beginning to tremble.

"Uhm, no, I mean-… We can, like-…", he rolled his eyes, laying his head back, "Yeah, that. Meet up more often."

Alya giggled, having understood what he meant in an instant. Maybe because she herself wanted it and jumped on every hint. But also, maybe, because she hoped he'd really mean it.

So she surged forward, pressing a little kiss to the soft underside of his jaw. He almost hit her with his chin as he looked down to her again.

"Uh-"

"I'd very much like to do this more often with you, Nino. And I'd like to do this so often with you that we could do this every single evening. And I also think that we're still not close enough.", he became very red at that and she giggled, kinda proud of herself for being able to cause that kind of reaction in him, "You get me?"

Oh, she knew very well what this statement could mean. She knew very well why his cheeks darkened another bit and why his eyes began jumping between hers.

But he remained silent and unmoving. His fingers between hers still trembled a bit and he didn't say a word.

Alya just rolled her eyes.

"Earth to Nino, you there?", she giggled. He slowly nodded at that.

"Y-Yeah?", he tried.

Alya sighed dramatically, pulling out her hand beneath his head to lean the back of her hand against her forehead.

"Thank god!", she smirked as she hugged him again, "And now kiss me."

His eyes widened and she knew she had broken him when she had said that. He remained still as a rock for a solid minute.

But just as she was about to crack another joke, maybe wanting to take it a step back and play it off, he surged forward, capturing her lips.

She was surprised at first. Certainly, she hadn't expected him to take some kind of action towards something like this. But his closed eyes directly in front of hers and his warm, a little dry lips pressed against hers were the vivid proof of how wrong she had been.

She let her eyes close as well, melting against him, her posture getting softer. She actually pushed back a little as well, humming against him. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

She happily complied, shifting her weight so he'd have it easier to pull her towards him.

The movie was long forgotten as they kissed, happy to have found each other, relieved that they would be able to be together.

There was no place they'd rather be.

Or, well, up until her parents came back home with the twins instantly running to greet their older sister. But as they found her on the couch with a boy, kissing him completely oblivious to the world, they started gagging.

"Ew! Ew, Alya is kissing!"

The young couple jumped apart and Alya immediately got to her feet, wildly shaking her head.

"N-No! He just-… There was something-… I, I tried to, uhm-…"

Marlena Césaire joined her two youngest, chuckling in amusement as they both hid behind her while making disgusted faces at each other. She smirked even wider as she saw Alya standing in front of the couch with Nino still laying there, both trying to look innocent.

"You know, daughter, I'll teach you how to apply your lipstick without smudging then. Oh, and don't try to put this color on Nino as well. It suits you well but I think he'd wear a darker tone better."

As Marlena had waited years to finally say something like that while catching one of her daughters kissing, she was overly smug as she threw the kids a wink, turning to put the groceries away.

Yes, it was very satisfying as she caught a gaze of their very red faces as Alya pulled Nino into her room. Shutting the door and locking it.

Sure enough, Alya and Nino missed dinner that day. And when Nino finally went home, he wore a darker shade of lipstick, smudged as well.


	13. Cookies - Mari's parents and Ladrien

**I'm sorry it's so late...**  
 **I had a few technical problems as well as bing busy nd well, that didn't go well together. But I'll be uploading three prompts at once now, as well as three more as the day goes on.**  
 **Enjoy the flood of uploads~**

* * *

"Marinette, could you get the cookies out of the oven?", her mother called. Smiling, Marinette put the mixing bowl with the next load of cookie dough down and went over to the oven.

"Sure thing, Maman! I got them!"

They were currently baking cookies for the next day to sell in the bakery and since her father and mother were doing some other tasks as well she was the one mostly responsible for the cookies. She didn't mind, though, making cookies was muscle memory and she had more than once stood in the bakery, baking by herself.

A wonderful wave of the scent from baked goods washed over her face, with a good portion of warmth, as she opened the oven door. The cookies looked delicious and just right, making her feel proud.

She just loved baking. Ever since she was a little kid her father had taken her to the kitchen with him, practicing to bake little things. She had of course eaten al the dough before they had been able to do anything but as she had become older she had more and more begun loving the creating part of baking. It was a little like designing, just for edible things and with a little more depth in the creating part.

"Got them, Maman! They look good!"

"I know!", her mother shot back, throwing a quick smirk over her shoulder. Marinette giggled, knowing her mother had full faith in her.

Her father came into the kitchen, smiling as his daughter placed the tray with the baked cookies on the counter to let them cool off. He wrapped his heavy arms around her shoulders, surprised at how strong she was to hold him up.

"They're good?"

"Yes, Papa.", Marinette grinned up to her father, hugging his arms, "They're good."

He placed a little kiss on her forehead and nodded as she giggled at his mustache.

"Just like my little daughter.", he smirked, turning to his wife and letting go of Marinette again, "Isn't that right, Honey?"

The woman smirked as she turned to her family, her hands full of flour and dough.

"Absolutely. Oh, and Marinette? If you plan on putting the dough in that you just mixed we'll have a few cookies too many. So feel free to grab a few for school tomorrow!"

Her daughter beamed and nodded, skipping over to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, Maman! I'm sure Alya will be delighted!"

* * *

As Marinette finished baking, though, and went up to bed with a few cookies in a bag already, she didn't think of Alya. Instead, her mind went back to Adrien. He had looked a little absent and distracted for the last few days, as if he was deep in thought.

She wondered what his beautiful green eyes looked at when he stared at a point way above the blackboard. There had to be something keeping his mind occupied, right?

Her stomach churned when it occurred to her that he might be in love. She did the same from time to time, after all.

She stared off in the distance, thinking about him, she was distracted and absent, that were all signs.

 _Well…_ She thought, _might as well be anything different!_

His father, for example. Or his schedule. Maybe he didn't sleep enough? Or maybe he planned something? Maybe he thought about Christmas presents!

And-… And even if he was in love… She wouldn't try and ruin this for him.

"Marinette, are you alright?", a voice suddenly asked. Tikki floated up into her face as she put the bag with still warm cookies on her desk.

"Yeah, I'm okay, it's just-…", She sighed and flopped down on her chair, "You know, Tikki, I just want Adrien to be happy. I'm in love with him, yes, but most of all I want him to be happy. And-… He-… he wouldn't be happy if-… He was pining after someone else and I'd try to intervene, right?"

The small Kwami shook her head and lowered herself down on Marinette's lap.

"Well, how would you feel if someone tried to intervene because they had a crush on you?", she asked, carefully not to overwhelm Marinette.

"I-… I'd probably feel-… Not respected and-… Well, I'd doubt their crush on me since they only act selfishly and-… Wouldn't consider my feelings…?"

Marinette sighed and buried her face in her hands, shaking her head.

"I'm a horrible person…", she groaned.

"You're not, Marinette.", Tikki quickly played it down, floating up and brushing over Marinette's hands, "You didn't do anything of that sorts. You only want the best for Adrien, right? And you're acting like that. So what you're doing is just the right thing!"

She sighed, parting one hand from her face to brush over Tikki's head.

"I just-… I dunno… I just don't wanna be in his way of-… Well…", she sighed.

Tikki made an uncertain face and shrugged.

"Marinette, you haven't done anything wrong, okay? Relax."

The girl sighed and leant back, then she eyed the cookies again. Maybe he'd like some cookies? Well, if she couldn't try asking him out anymore since he obviously had another love interest she could at least make sure he was happy. She could at least sneak him cookies, right?

"Tikki? What do you think of a stroll through the night?"

Tikki noticed her glance to the bag of cookies and nodded.

"Yeah, we can do that. Adrien's skinny enough as he is."

Marinette grinned at her Kwami before transforming.

* * *

She arrived on Adrien's window just after midnight. He was still up, on his computer. He looked kinda hectic as she watched him like this, hunched over and typing away with fast fingers.

Maybe the cookies were just the right thing now.

Ladybug gently knocking on his window, not to startle him. He listened up at first but didn't notice, then he turned around at the second time she knocked, his eyes widening at Ladybug hanging in front of his room. His gaze flew to the side before he ran over, opening his window to let her in.

"L-Ladybug!", he stuttered, his expression surprised as she lowered herself down to the floor to stand beside him. He was so much taller now… Sometimes it really surprised her in her Ladybug persona. Somehow, she sometimes felt like her duty would make her a bit taller.

"Hello, Adrien. I, uhm-… I was passing by after getting a few cookies from a friend and I saw you were still awake. So-… Am I interrupting something?"

He was quick to shake his head and try a smile, making her heart beat quicker.

"No, no, I just sat on something else, not, uhm-… Not school or work or anything."

"That's good.", she smiled and briefly lost herself in his eyes, taking just a second too long to hold out the bag for him, "Hey, so, I brought cookies. Maybe you want some? There's too many for myself anyway."

Adrien gave her another one of his dashing smiles, almost a smirk. He looked so handsome when he smiled like that. And sometimes, she felt like he smiled like that only for her.

"I'd love to have some cookies. Thank you, Ladybug."

"Not a problem. Wanna sit down?"

He nodded and gratefully took the bag from her. Silently, she thanked herself to have taken half of the cookies out beforehand to still have some for Alya and Nino in school.

They settled on the couch and both took a cookie, starting to quietly nibble on that until Adrien spoke up again.

"Uhm, so… What're you doing out so late? Had Patrol with Chat Noir?"

She shook her head, gesturing to the cookies.

"Oh, no. I just wanted some cookies and took the opportunity to look around a bit to make sure Paris is safe. Y'know, it's this 'a superhero's work is never done' sort of thing."

He nodded, humming as he took the last bite on his cookie and already reached out for another. But he only took a second one after an encouraging nod from Ladybug.

"Oh yeah, I know that feeling…", he murmured. She tilted her head at his tone, too sincere to be empathetic, but didn't question it any further.

"So, what did you work on? Something fun?", she carefully asked to distract him from this topic. He smiled and nodded, straightening up a little.

"Oh, yeah! It actually is, yeah. I've been starting to work together with Alya, the girl behind the Ladyblog. She's awesome, you know her. And, uhm, we've started a project to do a bit of research on the animal attributes of your themes, yours and Chat Noirs. It's actually quite interesting what we found out about Chat Noir.", he seemed excited but also a bit disgruntled, sending a brief glance back to his computer. That wasn't what caught her attention, though. He had said Alya was amazing.

And while she couldn't disagree with him since Alya was actually her best friend and she could affirm first hand that Alya was amazing, something on his tone set her off. Did he-… Did he like Alya?

"Oh yes, I know her. She has a really sharp mind for her age.", she said pointedly, biting in her cookie. He gave her another smile, nodding.

"Yeah, Alya's pretty fast when it's about combining things."

Ladybug grew more skeptical with every moment.

"I heard she's with the boy who's sometimes trying to hold her back now?"

Adrien enthusiastically nodded, not questioning her where she took that information, thankfully. Alya had been very discreet about her relationship with Nino, actually, she had only openly told her family and Marinette that she was really dating him. Their classmates and others had seen that something had changed between them but neither Alya nor Nino had really cared about telling it others. Marinette thought it was because it was their thing and they didn't like to share.

"Yeah, my best friend Nino!", his voice ripped her out of her thoughts, "They really belong together. Man, Nino would talk my ears off about how cool Alya is. I'm glad they're finally together."

"Uh-… Cool!", she managed, her theory luckily blown away. She was glad, of course, but on the other side it was now still a mystery to her who Adrien liked.

On the other side-… She didn't have any right to know who Adrien liked. And he could like who he wanted. So, to get away from that topic as well, she raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"Now, what did you find out about Chat Noir?"

He laughed and shrugged.

"He seems to be showing more animalistic tendencies than you. I mean, nothing wrong with that, Alya and I are just trying to get behind why he does that."

She laughed as she leaned back, looking out of the window as she thought back to him and his antics in the fabric store.

"Heh, yeah… There's indeed a heavy side on tendencies with him…"


	14. Secret Santa - DJWifi

**I'm really proud of this one ;)**

* * *

"I'm your Secret Santa, Alix! Happy holidays!", Mylène announced happily, hugging Alix and giving her a gift. The smaller girl beamed and hugged her back as someone skipped past them, up the stairs.

"Happy holidays, Nathaniel! I'm your Secret Santa, you lucky child!", Kim yelled, almost scaring Nathaniel off his bench. He recoiled but laughed at the poorly wrapped present, already thanking Kim. Meanwhile, Sabrina skipped over to Nino, presenting him a smaller gift.

"Hey Nino! I didn't exactly know what to get you sooooo… I just winged it. I hope you like it!", The boy grinned widely in return, taking the gift from her.

"Really cool from you, Sabrina!"

"Roooooooose!", Marinette shouted, turning to the back, "I got something for you!"

"Really, Marinette?! Ooooh, how sweet of you!"

In the midst of all the hectic running around, giving and receiving gifts, Alya sat on her seat, grumbling. Of course, of course Chloé had chosen her. Well, she should've known and better her than Alix who would protest, or Rose who would be sad.

But still.

While she had already given Ivan his present and had gotten back the brightest smile of him that she had ever seen on this bog boy, the dumb chocolate bar sat in front of her on her table. It was almost as if Chloé had generously given her alms to satiate her.

And yes, while Alya had never been much of a gift accepter since she liked giving gifts more, she had at least wanted a 'Happy holidays'. Or at least the tiniest bit of effort. Chloé had already given signs to better herself but this? This was sad.

Alya sighed, resting her chin on her crossed arms while watching Marinette giving Rose a rose themed shirt. Juleka gave Max a present behind them, Sabrina just unwrapped a portrait of herself, drawn by Nathaniel. Everyone had a smile on their face. Even Chloé, who had gotten a present from Max.

It wasn't that she felt left out or anything. It was just that she didn't really feel the vibe of Christmas coming her way while the others looked like they could immediately jump on Santa's sled and yell 'Silent Night' from the top of their lungs. Eh, who needed a Secret Santa anyway…

Miss Bustier just opened her gift from Alix, laughing as she revealed a small rollerblade-keychain. So that she would never forget her coolest student, the small girl claimed.

Alya huffed and rested her temple on her arms. She hadn't slept very well anyway so she could just as well get some rest now. Miss Bustier had officially declared the first two hours as a class intern Christmas party so she would have enough time to close her eyes a bit, slip off in the land of dreams and forget everything around her. Just as much as she had been forgotten.

Alya wasn't sour about that, no. Or, well, maybe a little bit.

She just felt like something was missing. She didn't want a gift, necessarily, but at least a kind gesture? Something telling her she was at least wanted here.

She sighed silently as she felt Marinette leaving their bench, off to ask everyone what they had gotten. Such a sweet soul.

Always out to care for others. And hell, how she had already cared for Alya! She was incredibly grateful to have found Marinette, to have her in her life. Before she had come to Collège Françoise Dupont she hadn't had many friends. Well, she hadn't really been interested in friends, honestly. She had her comic books, her sisters, one boy from school with who she could always geek out about Majestia and well, that had been enough for her.

Until she had gotten to know Marinette. She had also begun valuing Adrien as a great friend, no matter how much of a crush her best friend had on him.

And Nino… Well, that was a totally different story. For a few days now at least.

She smiled lightly when she thought about his golden eyes shining when he was excited, or transforming into molten caramel flowing around his pupil everytime his gaze softened, everytime he pulled her close and was just about to kiss her…

Her lips tingled and she couldn't quite suppress a bigger grin.

She opened her eyes, turning her head again to see him standing with Rose and Juleka, grinning broadly. She hummed at his sight before turning away again, not wanting to be caught staring. He just adjusted his red cap when she closed her eyes again and the image played in her head all over again.

He loved that cap. He never took it off outside even if his hair was so silky and soft that she was sure at least a few people would wanna touch it. She knew she wanted to.

His laugh ringed in her ears and she hid her smile in the crook of her arm, her chest feeling fluttery and her heart suddenly so light. Every negative thought from her forgotten Secret Santa was gone as she filled her mind with his grin, with his eyes, with his smooth, soothing voice. Somehow, her ears filtered away all other noises and she was concentrating on him alone.

"Woah, that looks really cool, Rose. I bet you're gonna wear it all day long now, huh?", he said, a happy undertone in his voice. And definitely a good piece of pride. Pride for Marinette.

She knew Nino and Marinette were childhood friends. Basically that they grew up together.

They had re-established a really close friendship as Adrien and Alya had joined the class but Alya knew from Marinette that she had been inseparable from Nino once.

She had to smile again.

They were so cute together. Marinette had shown her a few old photos and Nino's chubby cheeks always got her cooing. He had been so cute next to the absolutely adorable beauty next to him. Well, she couldn't blame him – Marinette had always been a beauty.

Just as Alya was about to doze off she felt a hand on her arm, though. The hand was a little too warm as always, but not sweaty. She opened her eyes and found Nino's smiling eyes just a bit away from her.

"Come with me, Al.", he whispered. A little groggy, she sat up and blinked.

"Where to?", she yawned.

"Just come with me.", he smirked, a conspiratorial expression flashing over his face. She got up and watched with a certain satisfaction how Nino inconspicuously swiped the chocolate bar a bit further onto the table, away from her.

He had seen it. He had understood her.

She followed him out of the door, her hand lying in his, protected and warm. She giggled a little as they were out of the door, feeling like they just snuck out of an important lesson even if they were free to go through the school at the moment.

"What's up, Nino?", she asked, not really expecting or wanting an answer. She wanted to be surprised.

"Just follow me.", he winked over his shoulder, his teeth flashing in a joyous grin.

She grinned and kept up with him, letting him pull her into the locker room. Nobody was here.

They passed all the lockers of their classmates and went to those of students in a higher class, passing them, too. She now understood where he wanted to go.

This corner was mostly used by students of higher classes because it was in their corner of the room but since their class was mostly in the middle they didn't have such a corner. And since Nino didn't want to go to the younger kids' lockers, he decided to pick the one that already had a reputation. A kissing reputation.

She bit down a giggle and tried to ignore the feeling of a thousand butterflies fluttering through her stomach as they got to the place where Nino wanted to go.

There was nothing really special about this corner, really. Apart from the fact that it was well hidden from the entrance and all the other lockers safe for the ones on this side it was just, well, that. A corner.

But within the students it had kinda become the place where people would go to kiss. As tenth graders they were a bit on the younger side to use the corner but Nino didn't seem to care. Especially since nobody was in the locker room anyway.

He turned to her, grinning with his cheeks slightly reddened. Was he just as excited as her? Well… They had shared a few pecks, yes. And they had also kissed for a bit longer, back when her mom had walked in on them. But this corner and the fact that they were in the school made it all a bit more-… Rebellious. Mature. Also, a bit more exciting, almost as if they were breaking some rules.

She watched him talking both her hands, slowly turning around and pulling her in a circle around him to let her lean in the corner. She willingly stepped past him, pulling a quick pirouette in a flowing motion as if it was a dance. He grinned as he remembered where she had last done that.

Alya's shoulders gently bumped against the wall on one side and the lockers on the other, one foot still on the floor while she propped one against the junction between locker and wall behind her. Nino smirked as he stepped closer, still holding both her hands, their fingers loosely interlaced.

"So, what're we doing here?", she questioned, tilting her head to indicate she was mockingly oblivious. He laughed, taking her knee between his legs to be close enough to her, his sneaker lightly bumping against the shoe with which she was still standing.

"Well, I saw how Chloé gave you that chocolate bar as a Secret Santa gift."

Alya psh'ed and shrugged.

"Yeah, that was very Christmas-y and nice. I practically felt the Christmas Spirit and kindness radiating from her in tsunami waves."

Nino snorted, now pulling away one of his hands to wrap his arm around her shoulders, leaning against the wall behind her in a close hug. His chest laid flat against hers and she smiled as she used her free hand to reach around him, grabbing his shirt and letting her arm relax in that position.

His nose softly bumped against hers and he nudged her, his fingers between hers closing to hold them tighter.

"Well, I figured you needed a real Secret Santa gift. Well, not so secretly from me but hey, at least we're in secret here."

She laughed at that, pressing a quick kiss to his nose.

"You mean I'll get a real Secret Santa gift here?"

"Well…", he smirked, "I could always run for Marinette's Santa hat that she's wearing and when we return you claim that you don't know who kissed you anymore. But yeah, I thought about giving you a _real_ Secret Santa gift."

She giggled, his breath mingling with hers and flowing down between them to their necks.

"I like the sound of it…"

And with a hum he leaned in, eager to give her the best Secret Santa gift she could have. Which she claimed to be true, even after seeing that Adrien had given Marinette, being her Secret Santa and all, a gift card for a cinema date.

Because even if everyone else had gotten something thoughtful from her classmates, she had gotten the sweetest attention from her boyfriend that she could've ever asked for.


	15. Caroling - Nino and DJWifi

**Mostly Nino, DJWifi at the end.  
Also, the names of the two other girls are a homage to two friends of mine that I really love so I decided to do a little friend-insert :D  
Happy Holidays, Morgana and Elydy! 3**

* * *

Nino hated caroling at the moment.

Not that he hated the singing or the going around from street to street. He actually really loved that when he was smaller and hadn't minded it when he got older.

No, it was more the fact that it had decided to snow right at the first song. And it had only begun snowing harder and harder during singing. But they actually had a schedule, his choir was responsible for their part of the city.

The snowflakes whirled around them and every single note was blown from his lips, away with the wind. He liked singing, he really did. But normally, he also liked to hear what he sung. Like this it got significantly harder. Especially since he was one of the oldest ones in his choir so the younger ones gave up and hid in their scarfs. Leaving him to sing with maybe five more people.

He already felt his throat giving up and finally, as the last song was sung for this street, he decided to have a say in this.

"Uhm, Madame?", he spoke up to their choir teacher, "I think it'd be better to continue tomorrow. Most of the small ones are freezing."

Madame Langlois, the teacher of their choir, sighed as she glanced down to their map. They had barely made half of their section of the city.

"Yes, I think it would be better to get them all home. This snow storm has really come to a bad time…"

Nino tried a smile, shrugging.

"We'll continue tomorrow, Madame!"

She hesitantly nodded, then she buried her chin in her scarf.

"Yes, that would be best. I'll see that I can reach the parents. I know of Ella, Etta, Noemie and Eloïse that they could go home themselves but only from our last station. I suppose their parents are busy. Could you bring these four to their homes?"

Nino nodded, smiling. The Césaire twins already looked up to him, grabbed at his coat and giggled.

"Are you gonna kiss Alya again?", one asked while the other almost fell over because she had to laugh.

"Alya was so red when Nino kissed her!"

The boy chuckled, kneeling down to them.

"Do you want me to kiss Alya again?"

Both nodded excitedly while Madame Langlois sent Noemie and Eloïse over. The two girls stood next to the twins, waiting to get going.

"And how do you want me to kiss Alya? Shortly?"

Ella jumped up and down, giggling louder.

"Oh, oh, surprise her! And, and, bend her down like the dancers that Maman likes to watch sometimes do!", she immediately grabbed her sister, attempting to imitate the move but both fell into the snow laughing as Ella lost her balance. Eloïse remained quiet while Noemie began laughing as well.

"But you gotta do it with a rose between your teeth!", she finally said and Nino chuckled as he reached over, adjusting the thick woolen hat with a Pegasus stitched on it on her rich, black locks.

"I'm afraid I can't get a rose at this time of the day anymore. But I'll make sure to do it next time. Any more suggestions?"

The twins still laughed about themselves and Noemie looked over to Eloïse, nudging her.

"You got an idea?"

"Well…", the little girl began, fidgeting with her gloves, "… Kiss her so she likes it."

Nino laughed at that, nodding and getting to his feet again.

"You are all little romantics, huh? I'll definitely take care that she likes it, don't worry, Elo. Anyway, bye Madame Langlois!"

The little girl nodded with a serious expression as their choir teacher waved them, taking a few quick steps to catch up with the older boy and stretching her hand up for him to take it. He smiled, taking her owl-themed gloves in his hand. He had to walk a little bent down but he didn't mind.

"Ella, Etta, you coming?", he called and the Césaire twins picked themselves up, grinning. Etta grabbed Noemie's hand, pulling her to walk with the others.

"So, where do you two need to go?", he asked down to the girls, meaning Noemie and Eloïse. They both named him their addresses and he nodded, smiling to himself.

"Then we'll bring the Césaire twins home as the last, hm?", they all nodded and he continued down the road, still clutching Eloïse's hand. She shivered and he sighed, cursing the weather.

"Want me to carry you? So can keep you warmer?"

The little girl nodded and he scooped her up, cradling her close.

"Hey, Elo! Warmer up here?"

He laughed as she buried her face on his neck, her cold nose tickling his exposed skin. She was the youngest of them all, barely even five years old.

"We'll be home in a bit, don't worry."

The little girl nodded, her short arms trying to hug his neck over the thick layers of material. He adjusted her a bit, then opened his jacket and closed it around her again.

"Aaah, now that's better. Feeling better, Elo?"

The girl giggled and nodded, her cold nose still freezing against his neck.

"Good! Also, Noemie, Ella and Etta, don't get too wet while playing in the snow. It's too cold and I can't get you all under my jacket."

The three playing girls merely laughed at him, continuing their snowball fight down the street. He cuddled Eloïse closer and grinned.

After three streets they reached Eloïse's house and he only reluctantly gave her away to her father. The little girl waved after him, obviously already sleepy and a bit whiny, wanting to stay in his warmth. He knew she'd be satisfied as soon as she'd be tucked away in her bed, though.

The next girl he had to take into his jacket was Etta, shivering and soaked through by the cold. Noemie and Ella continued to play, giggling along the way and throwing snowball after snowball.

They quickly reached Noemie's home, the little girl laughing as she fell into her mother's arms. Nino chuckled and waved for her as he left with the Césaire twins.

Finally, he saw their house coming up at the end of the second street after Noemie's house. Ella already began running to get inside faster and Nino followed her, freezing because of the temperature drop.

They climbed up the stairs to the highest apartment and Ella already stood in front of the door, waiting for her mother to open up because she already rang the bell. Just as Nino let Etta down and zipped his jacket up again, Marlena Césaire opened the door and bent down to greet her little daughters. Alya was behind her, already in a pajama, smiling at Nino.

"Thanks for bringing them home, Nino.", her mother said in a fond voice, giving him a warm smile.

"No problem.", he replied, opening his arms to softly hug Alya, trying not to make her wet with his soaked clothes. She didn't care about that, though, and tightly hugged him, pressing her face on his neck as Eloïse had done earlier. Just that Alya's nose was warm.

"I'll need to get going, though. It's only getting worse outside and I wanna be home as soon as possible."

Marlena shrugged and nodded, going back inside with the twins to leave Nino and Alya to themselves for a bit. He brushed over her back, lightly kissing her temple.

"Alya, in order for me to leave you'd have to let go of me.", he chuckled and felt her stubbornly shaking her head, "C'mon, I gotta get home."

"Text your parents…", she murmured, "… You're gonna stay the night. Tomorrow's Saturday. You can stay with me."

He merely shrugged.

"Well, can't say no to that."


	16. Family - DJWifi

**A fluffy Césaire drabble with Nino right in the middle x)**

* * *

Nino stepped in with Alya still hugging him, kicking off his shoes as she opened his jacket to wrap her arms around the warm, semi-dry sweater he wore beneath. It was still a little moist from Eloïse's and Etta's jackets pressed against it but Alya didn't seem to care.

He chuckled as he slid off the jacket, reaching around her to hang it up in front of the heater.

"We're a little cuddly today?", he smirked as Alya didn't want to let go.

She merely snuggled her cheek against his sweater, humming with an agreeing sound.

"Yes. I haven't seen you since school ended today. I'm allowed to be cuddly."

Nino laughed and tightly wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the feeling of hugging her close.

"Hmmm, then I wanna be cuddly, too. Even if I'm still a little cold and wet from the snow."

She hummed, rubbing over his back.

"I could give you a new sweater. And a shirt. I got a few things that're too big for me."

She very, very unwillingly parted from him and they walked to her room, Alya immediately rushing for a new shirt and sweater. He smirked as he watched her.

"So eager to see me shirtless?"

She shot him a quick glance, narrowing her eyes.

"Kinda. But more eager to be able to hug you again."

His face began burning as he took the sleep shirt and sweater, turning to get out of his moist clothes and into her warm, dry, good smelling clothes. As soon as he had changed he felt her arms sneaking around his waist again, her cheek resting on his back.

"Mmmmmmh, you're so warm…"

He chuckled as he leant forward to place his shirt and sweater over her heater, then he placed his arms above hers, his fingers brushing over her hands.

"I'm glad you think I'm so huggable."

She hummed and let him turn around, snuggling up against his chest. He lowered his head to prop his cheek up on her hair, closing his eyes.

"But now I want you to be honest, why're you so cuddly today?"

She shrugged, her fingers lazily brushing over the soft material of her sweater.

"I dunno. Maybe it's cuz I watched a movie with my parents and they're pretty cuddly. Maybe it's also the weather."

He chuckled and lifted her up, hearing Marlena just finishing to put the twins in some warm, dry clothes as well. His jeans was still a bit uncomfortably cold but at least not wet. He carried Alya, who clung to him like a monkey, into the living room and sat down next to her father after asking for his permission, feeling her adjusting so she could fold her legs next to his thighs and shift a little so she was comfortable.

Nino chuckled as he pulled her closer, then he saw another hand joining his on her back. Before he knew it, Marlena Césaire was leaning against his side, one arm slung over Alya. Otis didn't take long to follow, cuddling in their eldest daughter as well, leaning against Nino's other side.

And it would've been a cute picture for other people, seeing a family occasionally cuddling like this, if it hadn't been so weird for Nino.

Well, he had known Alya's parents for a little longer already, a bit over a year now. He had been on the more personal level with them since Adrien, Marinette he and Alya had decided to make Alya's apartment their second headquarter after the bakery.

He had gone so far as almost calling Marlena his Maman because he had been sleepy and she had been nice to him and it had been early in the morning and Marlena was just a person that he had immediately accepted as a cool mother.

He hadn't had as much contact with Otis Césaire but he had felt comfortable around the calm, quiet man from the first minute he had spent alone with him, waiting for Alya to get ready.

And, well, he had known the Césaires were big cuddlers. He knew that from stories Alya told about lazy Sundays or Christmas Mornings or when one of them was feeling sad. He had known that, yes, but he hadn't expected to be in the middle of something like that. As Alya had always told it, it had seemed like a family exclusive thing. Not even Marinette had gotten to be part of one of those family cuddles even once and she was practically a sister to Alya.

Except-… He had become family? In the few days he had been Alya's boyfriend now?

Feeling a little uncomfortable to be hugged by all of them didn't stop them, though. The movie was still paused and a few moments passed before Ella and Etta came running in, both jumping on their mother's back. Marlena yelped but then laughed and parted from Nino and her daughter to grab one of the twins, Ella, and lifted her over.

The little girl was sandwiched between Nino, Alya and her mother as Marlena leant in again, now more cuddling close to her younger daughter than them. Alya grumbled a little at that but as soon as he brushed over her back again she gave a contented sigh, not even noticing that Etta snuggled up to her father now, giving Nino a bit more room. Now that he was more cuddled in between the younger Césaires than the older ones, he felt comfortable again. Well… It was kinda weird cuddling with the parents of his girlfriend after just knowing them for a year and, well, being the boyfriend of their eldest daughter for a few days.

Otis lazily reached for the remote, continuing the movie again. Apparently, it was a kids' movie or a drama movie that the twins wouldn't understand anyway, otherwise Otis wouldn't have pressed play again. But Nino didn't really care what kind of movie played. While Otis and Marlena half watched, the twins slowly falling asleep in the warm pile of loved ones, he found it much more interesting to watch Alya slowly subsiding to her tiredness.

He tried keeping his breathing as still as he could as Alya's eyelids grew heavy, closing from time to time again. Her back slumped a little so he wrapped his arms tighter around her, making her slide up a little so that her back would be straight again. She sighed and briefly yawned and stretched as he changed her position but quickly snuggled up against him again as the new position was reached. Her forehead was now safely tucked under his chin and instead of watching her eyelids falling close and her lips parting he felt her breath on his neck slowing down until it was even and deep. Soon, the Césaire family around him had fallen asleep and the movie ended. He fished for the remote in Otis hand, switching to a documentary channel and lowering the volume so that they could continue sleeping. Marlena woke up from it and barely found the strength to take an oversized fluffy blanket, pulling it over her and Ella to pass it on to Otis who finished her task seemingly still sleeping. Now that the blanket hugged them all and the documentary droned on while the two adults closed their eyes again, Nino felt himself dozing away.

Everything was so warm and soft and-… there was-… no place-… where he would… rather… be…

* * *

Needless to say, that they only found to their beds as Alya woke up at three in the morning, having slept as the one in the most uncomfortable position with her legs folded beneath her and her back slouched from sinking into herself even more.

She motivated them all to go to bed and while Otis and Etta managed, Marlena and Ella merely fell back on the couch, pulling the blanket around them to sleep right there.

Alya pulled Nino up and into her room, pushing him into her bed to use him as her mattress instead.

He didn't mind one bit as she continued drooling on the sweater she had given him, pulling up the warm, heavy sheets around them while the snow storm raged outside.


	17. Christmas Cookies - DJWifi

Nino woke up because he felt Alya shifting. She apparently tried to cover her ears in her sleep but since she could only cover one ear at a time by pressing it against his chest she constantly turned her head.

He chuckled as he watched her scowl once again, shifting her position to face the other wall.

Only then he understood why she did that, as the sleepiness slowly faded from his conscious just enough to notice more things around him.

Outside of her room Christmas Music was playing, not really too loud but definitely enough to wake someone up. He figured it hadn't been just Alya who had ended his sleep.

His girlfriend on top of him turned her head once again, now whining a little. She really, really liked her sleep, he assumed. So, he let his hand come up from her back, softly covering her exposed ear with his palm. She immediately relaxed, even smiling a bit as now both her ears were covered. He hummed, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead before falling back onto the pillow again. He faintly heard kitchen utensils clicking together and figured that someone was cooking or baking something. As a kitchen machine sounded, a mixer as Nino assumed, it was clear.

Alya snuggled closer to him, her arms tightening around his sides. He felt her slowly waking up but still seeking warmth so he pulled up the blanket he had kicked down a little since he had been too warm, cuddling her in again. Just a few moments later she opened her eyes, slowly blinking and orientating herself, then looking up to him.

"G'morning, beautiful.", he whispered, his hand that had covered her ear sliding down to caress her cheek. She let her head fall against his hand and he giggled, brushing over her cheek with his thumb, "How did you sleep?"

She smiled sleepily and blinked, her eyelids already drooping again.

"Good.", she slurred, "How did you sleep?"

"Amazing.", he grinned, his other hand that was still on her back sliding further so he could cuddle her tighter.

She hummed and laid her head back down on his chest again, her hands lazily moving at his sides in an attempt to caress his arms. He just chuckled, pulling her up to have her face closer to his. The Christmas Music from the kitchen still played in the background and as he glanced out from their comfortably warm bed he saw that the snow storm was still going on.

He had imagined it just like this, honestly.

Being close to her, cuddling with her, faint Christmas Music through the door and the almost not noticeable scent of baked cookies, this was how he had pictured it at some point.

No, honestly… This was better than he could have ever imagined. This was the best it could get. But he knew Alya would prove him wrong everytime he would think this was the best as it could get.

She hummed as she stretched up, pressing her lips to his. His hand went into her hair and he silently gave her a point for already proving him wrong.

It could very well get better. 1 to 0 for Césaire.

He turned them over so he was on top of her now, trying to wake up his system to get up at some point. She giggled beneath him, her hands flying up to his cheeks.

"My hair was annoying?", she asked and only now he noticed he didn't have to brush her hair away and hold it at the back of her head to hold it. He liked that.

"Mostly that I wanted to be on top once as well. You were for the whole night, my turn now."

She giggled, giving him another little kiss before listening up. The scent of freshly baked Christmas cookies getting stronger.

"Is Maman baking?", she asked and Nino shrugged, sitting up with his knees folded beneath him to let her sit up as well.

"I dunno who's baking but I got woken up by the Christmas Music, mostly.", he replied, "Wanna go look?"

She nodded, brushing her fluffy, messy hair back to tie it to a ponytail with a hairband that never seemed to leave her wrist otherwise.

They both crawled off the bed to walk into the kitchen, seeing Marlena cutting out cookies with the twins on the counter. Alya grinned at the music playing from the small speaker in the corner.

"Already in the Christmas spirit, Maman?"

Marlena laughed as she turned around, looking at Nino and Alya.

"The twins wanted to bake something so I figured why not? We don't have Christmas cookies yet so we could just as well bake some now."

"Good choice of music.", Nino commented with a grin.

Ella giggled as she freed another cookie, placing it on the sheet.

"We didn't finish caroling so we had to put on Christmas songs!", she explained as Nino stepped closer to her, brushing over her back.

"That's right, pipsqueak.", he laughed, "So, what can I do?"


	18. Warm - Adrien and Papa Agreste

**I have no idea what I just wrote. I just know I'm sobbing.**  
 **Have this and pls don't hate me.**  
 **I am so sorry.**  
 **(Honestly, I have NO IDEA what I wrote. I don't know what'll stand there)**

* * *

Adrien still remembered when Christmas had held a warm feeling, in contrast to the cold winter. He still remembered how his mother had hugged him and whispered into his ear that she loved him.

He still remembered when his father had sat down with them, on the floor, to open gifts and read the Christmas story.

That had been Christmas. Somehow, it had always been on the floor. His mother had loved that.

It had somehow given them a feeling to be closer together, a feeling of breaking the rules and celebrating Christmas their way. They had even eaten on the floor, laughing, living in their own little world of three that had seemed so much bigger and warmer than the whole rest of the year.

He still remembered their laughter echoing through the mansion. Still remembered that the presents hadn't been as important, had never been.

He still remembered the times as he had been a little boy, remembered how he had been allowed to sleep with his parents in their bed on Christmas.

He still remembered.

That was just the thing.

He only remembered.

The laughter had faded. The warmth had seeped through the floor and away from his grasp. The little world that the three of them had built had vanished.

Sometimes, especially during the month before Christmas, Adrien just wanted to forget.

Forget his mother had ever existed, forget his father had been close and warm once instead of distant and cold.

Sometimes he wished he was the same as his father.

Because then, the pain wouldn't be ever so present. Because then he wouldn't hear his mother's whisper in every howl of the wind, he wouldn't think back, wish himself back to the times where he could sit in his father's lap an entire evening.

He wouldn't have to be reminded that it would never, ever happen like this again.

He wouldn't wish for anything, he wouldn't hope again and again and he wouldn't feel a thing.

His bed wouldn't be as big and lonely as it felt on Christmas Eve, his room wouldn't feel like a giant isolated box and the mansion wouldn't feel like a prison.

He wouldn't have to go through this pain again.

Adrien sighed as he closed his eyes in the big, empty, silent room. He had long given up texting with his friends, listening to music, watching movies, playing games or talking to Plagg. He had long given up trying to somehow distract himself from this.

His Kwami had retreated to the paper bin that was under his desk, apparently sleeping because Adrien didn't hear a sound from him.

The house was big and empty, too big to make sense for him. Why did they need such a big house with so little in it to keep it alive?

Alya's family lived in a remotely big apartment and they had everything they needed. Nino's family lived in a similar apartment, a little smaller than Alya's, and they had more than everything.

Marinette's family lived in a space that was overlooked by one spin on his heel and it felt like the small apartment could burst at any moment because of how much love they managed to fit in.

Here? He wasn't even sure if it was some kind of house anymore.

Maybe it was just a demonstration of power by his father. To show the competition how much money he had. To show his son how mighty he was.

That's how it felt.

That his father wanted to show him his place. Intimidate him with silence and coldness since his mother had vanished. As if he was punishing him, blaming _him_.

The silence was deafening.

The little sniffle he allowed himself was nothing in the room that was too big and silent. Marinette's entire apartment could fit in here.

The tear that rolled down his cheek was too hot for his freezing surroundings and as he began shivering he felt inferior to the powerful motionless around him.

When his mother had still been around the house had been alive. It had greeted her when she had entered through the door, it had seemed to make every room as beautiful as possible when she walked in. The house had somehow loved his mother. Even if she hadn't thought it was necessary.

His mother had told him they didn't need all this. He knew why.

She had wanted to teach him modesty, contentment.

Oh, how she had failed to understand.

He desperately wished for a house that could fit in his room, he desperately sought for a bed that was barely broad enough to hold him. He desperately wanted a home, not a house.

No matter how this home would look like, honestly. It could be an apartment with one room, hidden away in some basement. A wet corner in which an old sink and a toilet stood, out in the open. A single bed that was shared by his family. A smelly couch, maybe a rickety table. Not even that.

Three chairs, one on which the one with the most balance had to sit because two legs diagonally from each other had broken off. Another corner with a small table and a measly, single hotplate on top, plucked into the only outlet the room had. All the ingredients next to that, no fridge but a small, worn out cooler, with faded red paint.

One stolen mannequin, hidden under the bed. A pile of clothes next to it, some washed, some worn, partly to hide the mannequin. A jar with some change in it, all the money they had.

One window, above the kitchen area. Smeary and almost vanishing under black graffiti.

Oh yes, he had seen how his parents had lived once. He had seen how the poor design student had tried to make a living by illegally working for a tailor. His mother had shown him some photos she had snapped. His favorite one would be the one of his father and his mother in this room.

His father sat on the bed, his hair already in the haircut he so firmly wore now but way messier. Adrien assumed it was because his mother had messed it up by brushing through his hair. His father sat on the bed, his long, slender legs lightly bend, only his heels propped up on the sheets. His mother sitting on top of him, her elbows propped up on his chest, her legs folded beside his father's thighs. Her hands in his hair. His father was looking up and their forehead's leant against each other.

His father held her on her hips. They both laughed.

Adrien smiled under tears when he thought back to that picture. An old friend of them had snapped it as his parents had been together for a year. It had been one month from the moment that his father had been offered a life changing job. A job as a designer.

It had been a small job at first since he had still studied design next to that. But a designer who had stayed a good friend until he had died a few years ago had recognized his father's talent.

Just a few months after that his parents had left this apartment. His mother had always told him how two boxes had been enough to move all their stuff. In their new apartment his father and his mother had finished their studies and his father had been offered a bigger job. Just three years after this photo had been snapped Adrien had been on his way. He didn't remember his old room, though. He had been younger than a year old when they had moved into the mansion.

And there was nothing he would rather have than just that.

His mother had tried to teach him he didn't need luxury in his life but she hadn't understood how much he wanted just what they had left behind.

One room was enough. One room. A single bed for all three of them. One single outlet, one single plate to cook on.

Nothing more. If he could only have the love of his parents back. If only he could at least have his father back.

But Gabriel Agreste sat in his office every single day of the year, not caring about holidays or birthdays or festivities. He would schedule photoshoots on Christmas Eve at seven in the evening if he could book a photographer then.

Adrien knew, because he had heard his father try to schedule a shoot for this year.

The tears freely flowed down his cheeks, way too hot as they left his eyes and way too cold as they dropped into his lap. The snow outside swirled in front of his window and the grey sky let the house seem even colder than it probably was. Adrien had left all the lights off and had just sat down on his couch, watching the weather outside until his eyes had burned too much from the sadness that overran him.

His music system was turned off, his earphones and phone lay forgotten on his bed. His computer was turned off and his TV didn't give a sound. He had even plugged out his lamp on the nightstand, not wanting to have anything that counted as luxury interrupting his daydream.

He was in the room his father had lived in. In the room his mother had moved into, because she had loved his father so much and hadn't cared for the protection, for the warmth that the home of her parents provided. Because she had valued her love above everything.

And his father had been so grateful he had bought her dinner form his savings. His mother had told him how they had gone to a hot-dog stand on a forgotten parking lot. She had laughed over how the owner had immediately recognized this as a date and had even set up a table for them with paper plates and plastic forks and knives. He remembered how his father had laughed and told him that the owner had called a friend to give them a mouth organ concert. And how the owner had only wanted half of the price because his father couldn't offer more.

He still remembered.

Adrien sighed and opened his eyes to glance at the big window before losing himself in his memories again. His memories that burned like a fire inside him, eager to revive this place to its old glory again.

He remembered how his mother had cuddled with him and had baked Christmas Cookies that had tasted like Ladybug's with him. He remembered how they had told each other stories that they imagined, about pirates that flew in their ships high above the clouds or about elves that lived in the underground, beneath the surface of the mossy forest ground.

They had created worlds while lying in the middle of the room on the floor, building a mattress of blankets and pillows until his father would join. His father had always had the biggest and most colorful fantasy out of the three of them.

He had listened to his son telling the stories he had begun with his mother and suddenly, the pirates above the clouds became vivid in his father's excited mouth. He let them have adventures, invented cruel captains and heroic young cooks that saved the crew. He remembered how the elves had gotten a fair king who had to marry his daughter to another tribe. He remembered how the ideas of his mother had become novels with his father.

He still remembered.

A small smile played around the corners of his mouth as he recalled how they cooked together because the cook had gone home to his own family. His sniffles turned into light giggles as he practically tasted the dough of the cookies, the adventurous and not always delicious attempts of his parents to try out new things. The playful banter that they had thrown back and forth between them, way more harmonizing and practiced than even the banter between his lady and him.

He still remembered, yes.

And because he was so caught up in his memories, in the warmth that his mind provided, he almost didn't notice the couch sinking down next to him, a stiff but familiar presence brushing against his side.

He opened his eyes and turned to his father, almost scared he would say something about a scheduled meeting or photoshoot. About Christmas, about a dance or anything that Adrien didn't want. But he didn't find Nathalie in the room, nor did his father have a clipboard, a planner or his phone with him.

His gaze remained fixed on the window, his eyes slightly jumping when he followed some lazy snowflakes falling.

"Father?", Adrien asked, his chest slowly tightening as his father still didn't turn to him.

"… She loved this weather…", Gabriel finally whispered, his hands almost not noticeably trembling. Adrien faced the window again sighing.

"… I remember.", he agreed, his words tasting like the new Christmas he had been forced to know now. Dry and cold.

Father and son stayed silent for a moment before Gabriel spoke up again, his voice shaking. Something Adrien hadn't been prepared for.

"Do you also remember the stories?"

"The pirates above the clouds?", Adrien asked, helping his father.

"Yes.", Gabriel silently agreed, his voice already gone.

Adrien looked up into the sky, seeing a wooden board, a fin, appearing in the clouds. Helping to navigate a ship through the sky. As he blinked it was gone again.

"… I do.", and even just for a moment, the warmth returned.


	19. Pretend to be GF - Adrienette

**Hold your horses, guys, this is Part 1 ;)**  
 **The next prompt will still be all about that!**

* * *

Adrien nervously shifted his weight from one foot to another while standing in front of the building with the ballroom that his father had rented for the big Christmas party the Agreste family always held.

It was disgustingly formal and stuck up and Adrien wanted to be everywhere else but there. Well, at least Chloé was out of town so he didn't have to go with her.

What he hadn't foreseen, though, was that his father had come to him with a question.

Who would be his partner for the ball?

First, he had thought of Nino but his father had politely declined, still leaving it open for Adrien to choose without considering a gender but forbidding him to bring _this_ boy. Adrien knew Nino's name was still on Gabriel Agreste's blacklist so he wasn't allowed to bring him.

Alya had almost been his next guess when he had remembered Marinette. She was an aspiring designer so she would surely be overjoyed to be around some of the most famous designers of Europe, right?

He had asked her right away and well, she had happily taken the offer.

The only thing he had failed to tell her in the heat of his joy was that-… Well… It was supposed to be a date. Or, well, a date to the outside.

Not, uh, not for them, right? She just had to pretend, right?

A little nagging feeling built up inside him but he ignored it as his phone chimed up. He pulled it out, recognizing the caller as Nino.

"Uhm, hi Nino?"

 _"_ _ARE YOU COMPLETELY CRAZY, MAN?!"_ , the voice on the other end shouted and Adrien recoiled, holding the phone away. This voice unmistakably belonged to Alya.

"Uhm… No, thanks… What's up?"

 _"_ _Marinette just left!"_ , Alya now angered around in a slightly lower voice, still loud but at least so that Adrien could hold his phone like a normal person again.

"Uh-… That's good, right?"

Alya downright exploded so as Adrien dared to take the phone to his ear again he heard Nino speaking.

 _"_ _Dude, you still there?"_

"Uhm, yes. What's up?"

Nino sighed, his girlfriend audibly stomping around rambling angrily in the background.

 _"_ _Alya, relax… So, uh, you invited Marinette to this big ass fancy party this evening?"_

"Yeah?"

 _"_ _Well…"_ , Nino began, _"Problem is, you asked her just this morning, Adrien. She kinda freaked out over the whole day and Alya freaked out with her and she's wearing an original design and stuff… Anyways. All I wanna say is that I'll have to kill you with best regards from Alya if you don't take care of her."_

"I will! I will take care of her!", Adrien insisted but Nino sighed again.

 _"_ _No, dude, like… She'll be in a room with a lot of persons she looks up to and Marinette is kinda a person to have no chill when it comes to situation like these. Please take care that she won't, uhm, y'know… Go crazy."_

Adrien chuckled, knowing Marinette's antics.

"I'll do my best."

 _"_ _Good…"_ , Alya had calmed down a bit, probably to listen, _"And, uhm, dude? Have you told her about, uh, the thing?"_

 _"_ _What thing?"_ , Alya asked. Nino silently explained it to her, somehow successfully keeping her from freaking out again.

Adrien stiffened and looked down the street, gulping.

 _"_ _Dude. Adrien. Tell me you-"_

"… Didn't?"

 _"_ _THAT'S IT!"_ , Alya yelled. She apparently took the phone again because suddenly, her voice was very close, _"Agreste, if there's one, and I repeat, ONE message from Mari that I might understand wrongly, you are dead. And if there is one Marinette crying in my arms this night, then you aren't just dead but also castrated, neutered, skinned, burned, buried alive and tarred and feathered and most of all DEAD, do I make myself clear?"_

Adrien gulped harder, actually leaning away from his phone.

"Uhm-… Y-Yeah, o-of course, Alya…"

 _"_ _Am I scaring you?"_ , her voice was suddenly sweet and caring and he was even more afraid of that than before.

"Y-Yes?"

 _"_ _GOOD!"_ , she hissed, the old bite apparent again, and he was sure he had never been so close to peeing himself in public. He swallowed, listening as Nino took over again.

 _"_ _Yeah, I'll try to calm her a bit, just-"_

 _"_ _DON'T YOU DARE, LAHIFFE!"_

Adrien nodded.

"I'll take care of her. There's no calming and furious Alya Césaire when it's about Marinette, got it."

 _"_ One _Alya Césaire, don't forget that."_ , Nino chuckled and it was the last thing he did.

 _"_ _ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF M-"_

The call was abruptly ended and Adrien was left alone with tingling ears, blinking once, twice, before straightening up again. He just hoped he would see Nino alive sometime again.

As he looked down the street and saw a car nearing he didn't know yet how little Nino's life would matter to him in just a few seconds. The car pulled over and he could make out Marinette's father and her as the lights flashed on. They talked for a bit, then Marinette opened the door and stepped out. Adrien jumped to her side to help her out, startling her with that but after the first moment of shock she took his hand, standing up from her seat.

"H-Hi Marinette!", he stuttered, his gaze involuntarily flickering up and down her body.

She was _gorgeous_.

When Alya had said that she would be wearing an original design he had been excited. But seeing her like this, her slender but somehow muscular body so wonderfully cupped by the amazing dress. Her hair done in a braid that led from her forehead to the back of her head, out of her signature pigtails. Her make up shining in the street lamp, applied to keep her natural beauty and just let her significant traits stand out a little more. Her bluebell eyes sparkled and her lips were so rosy he had to swallow.

Ever since he had joined her shopping as Chat Noir he had found his thoughts wandering off to her more and more often. Now seeing the wonderful dress on her that had the same color as her hair, maybe a bit more on the violet side, seeing her curves catching his attention because of the genius design of the dress, seeing how beautiful she let herself be, he found himself losing his mind.

Ladybug was long forgotten.

In a daze he barely remembered that they were still standing on the wintery sidewalk but the small snowflakes dancing over her eyelashes and midnight blue hair were hypnotizing. Her eyes were like lamps to a moth for him. He couldn't turn away.

It wasn't the dress that made her so truly beautiful. It wasn't that she wore more radiant make up than usual and it certainly wasn't that she had dressed up like that. The true beauty was her excitement, her genuine joy. The true shine that captured him was how beautiful she had allowed herself to be.

Marinette giggled, which ripped him out of his trance, and turned to her father. Tom leant over, winking at Adrien.

"You take care of my daughter, son!"

Adrien began grinning at the familiar nickname Tom had given him as his visits had become more frequent since Alya, Nino, Marinette and him had become better friends. He nodded, just barely able to look away from the beauty that was in front of him.

"Of course, Monsieur Dupain. Have a nice evening!"

"Same to you, kids!", he replied before driving off, leaving the two teens standing on the sidewalk.

"You-… You look beautiful, Marinette…", he finally choked out, feeling awkward and clumsy next to her. She giggled and blushed, making his heart skip a beat.

"Thank you, Adrien. You look quite handsome, too."

He briefly wondered where this slight dimmed light in her eyes came from, of the lack of her stutters, but he figured she just felt confident in the dress.

"U-Uh, thanks!"

Only now he noticed how close they stood to each other, her feet already between his and her chin almost brushing over his chest when she spoke. He only noticed because he now felt her shivering.

"Uhm, let's go inside! You must be cold. The, uh, the party will officially begin in ten minutes and, uh-…"

They entered the building, Marinette on his arm and her shivering stopping as they stepped into the warm foyer. He grew more and more nervous as they continued down the hall, towards the ballroom. He had to tell her.

So he stopped gently, turning towards her before his father could see them.

"Uhm, Marinette, there's actually something, uhm-…"

"Adrien, are you alright?", she asked, sweet and caring as ever. He tried a smile.

"Yeah, of course! It's just that, well, this here-… This isn't just an invite to you, Marinette…"

Her eyes sparkled again and she downright looked ashamed as she spoke up, flustered and now finally stuttering.

"O-Oh, yeah that's right! It's such a b-big opportunity, Adrien, I didn't even thank you! I just, ugh, I'm so sorry for my rudeness, I really-"

"No, no…", he chuckled, "It's an honor to me that you're here today. It's just that, well… My father kinda-… Made me invite someone. As, uh-… As my date."

Her face was stable for a surprisingly long time. But she also didn't react for a concerningly long time. Adrien already swallowed, ready to catch her or apologize for everything he had ever done. Or, well, to say goodbye to his life.

"… A date.", she finally repeated, " _Your_ date."

He nodded awkwardly, his hand flying to the back of his head.

"Uhm, yeah, well, my father and-… Well, it's just to pretend because, well, some designers are a little difficult and-… Uhm-… You just gotta pretend and we don't have to kiss and nothing, we just have to hang out together and maybe dance and, uh, well, that's all, promise!"

She slowly nodded, her head seemingly working at light speed. Little did he know how close she was to a full fledged nervous breakdown right now.

She had just adjusted to stepping her being in love down, she had just begun accepting he liked someone else. She had just psyched herself up together with Alya to be suave and cool and totally just a friend. To have a cool evening with a cool guy who was a friend, nothing more.

She still freaked out over all the renowned designers she would meet and yes, she was nervous. But this was no comparison, in no way, to the nervousness that built up within her now.

Pretending to be Adrien's date.

There was something about that that she simply couldn't grasp. And she felt herself slipping.

Pretending to be his date. Just pretending and, well, pretending to hang on his arm, pretend that kissing him occasionally was normal between them even if they wouldn't do it today, pretending that they were in a relationship, were probably fooling around, hanging out in their free time, knowing personal things about each other. Pretending to be _more than just a friend_.

Yep, she was freaking out. On the inside. Just on the inside.

"Oh, uh-… Of course?", she squeaked, watching as the tension left from Adrien's shoulders.

 _Help_ , she thought.

"Oh man, I'm so glad Marinette! We don't have to do more than just stay together, that's all. And hey, this is gonna be fun, right? Just you, me, a few old and stuck up people that we say hello to and a few really cool younger people that we can talk to and the evening's over faster than we can imagine."

She managed a nod and even a slight smile.

"Oh, uhm, yes of course! Exciting, fun and, uhm-… Pretending to be a-… Uh, couple?"

He nodded, now an uncertain expression snuck over his face.

"A-Are you gonna be okay with that? We can also tell everyone you're a friend and my real partner couldn't make it or-… Well, some stuff like that?"

She quickly shook her head, now completely accepting that she had absolutely zero chance with him.

"Nah, it's fine, really. Let's, uhm, pretend we're a couple and forget it tomorrow?"

She narrowly missed the sad shadow in his smile as he nodded.

"Yeah, of course. Friends, right?"

"Friends.", she agreed, hooking her arm into his again.


	20. Christmas Lights - Adrienette

**Part 2 of 5 in this Mini-Story in the middle of the prompts :D**  
 **Hope you enjoy~**

 **(Pls don't hate the oc, he's necessary for jealous Adrien, nothing more)**

* * *

"Yes, and that's my date, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.", Adrien said for the umpteenth time. Marinette smiled, shook another hand, explained she was here with her boyfriend Adrien and an aspiring designer.

When he had said it the first time she almost hadn't been able to get a word out. Because of nervousness, she supposed, but the fact that it hurt her when he said it was probably also a big factor.

She had never thought that hearing date out of Adrien's mouth could hurt so much. She had never thought that her name in connection to the word date, coming from Adrien, could rip her heart out again and again. She knew he didn't love her. She knew he was in love with someone else.

And apparently, he had the same problem as her, he was too shy or intimidated or in love to say something. Being the substitute for the girl who Adrien didn't dare asking out was-…

Well, Marinette felt like throwing up in disgust. But she knew how his father was. Knew how important it was for him to have someone by his side for the evening, not just because of upholding a reputation but also not to be alone. To have a friend.

And while Marinette was massively disappointed to be downgraded like that, she also wanted to stay with him to cheer him up. She swallowed her bitterness to, well, be what she had always wanted before becoming more than that. A friend to Adrien.

She shook yet another hand, holding up her smile. Not just for Adrien, admittedly.

She also wanted to be here. To meet all these people, to get to know a few designers she had always looked up to. And while Adrien's presence next to her made her feel unwanted, saddened her, she forbade her feelings to get in the way of her future. This was not just about Adrien or his father. This was about her and her future as a designer.

Just-… After meeting the umpteenth designer who merely gave her a brief glance before turning to Adrien, trying to persuade him to reveal little secrets about his father, she was rather done with the entire evening. The food was good, sure, the ballroom looked amazing with all the Christmas lights and decorations and she just couldn't get over how much importance was stuffed into one room to converse with each other, but still. She felt like she was a bit at a wrong place, especially because of the bomb Adrien had detonated right before.

A pretended date, how cliché was that?

And where were these young people Adrien had spoken of? If he had meant Chloé, she was out of town. And that was about-… It?

Marinette sighed silently, while letting her smile slip for a moment. She had refused to speak to Adrien since they had entered the ballroom and had only briefly looked at him. She was decoration here for most people and even if Adrien needed a friend to help him out, she wasn't willing to give him more than that. Well, he couldn't exactly be blamed. He didn't know about her feelings that she was currently trying to bury deep inside her heart.

She really couldn't blame him…

"… This is my date, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's an aspiring fashion designer.", she heard Adrien say and immediately, her bright smile was on her lips again. Only now she realized who stood in front of her.

"Good evening, my fair lady.", the young man grinned, gently taking her hand, turning it and placing a kiss on her knuckles without touching them, "How do I deserve this honor?"

Marinette blushed as Silvio Alesio straightened up again, his eyes practically sparkling of joy. She gulped, trying to find back to her business face as she mustered his deep brown eyes, his dark caramel skin and his short, black hair. He looked really, really handsome.

And as she stuttered out a greeting, she actually remembered where she had read about him. He was one of the youngest absolvents of a design study course in Italy, with merely 22 years. He had immediately gotten a job as a designer to the most renowned Italian designer the land had ever seen and he was incredibly talented.

"H-Hello, uhm, Monsieur Alesio, it's, uh-… An honor to meet you…?", she forced out, her hand still in his. He grinned broader, shaking his head.

"Call me Silvio, please. Now, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, you're an aspiring fashion designer?"

His French was kinda blocky and not quite as fluent but she didn't even notice over his accent, his bright teeth or, well, the fact that he stood where she aspired to be.

"Y-Yes, I am. I, uh, well, I plan on studying fashion design."

Suddenly, she felt a hand on the small of her back. Adrien's hand. She sent him a quick side glance and actually recoiled as she saw his set jaw, the forced smile, and felt his hand on her back trembling because it was so tense.

"The dress she wears is an original design by her. She even created it.", he explained with a smile and a polite voice that didn't let anyone question the pride he didn't bother hiding. As if he was her actual boyfriend. He really played his part well.

Silvio's eyes widened as he looked down on her, then his expression became smug. He briefly glanced over to Adrien, then his gaze was fixed on her again, his eyes shining of humor.

"It's gorgeous, my dear Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng."

"Marinette, please.", she now finally said without stuttering, having collected herself. Silvio smirked and placed his other hand over hers that he still held.

"And you plan on just standing around in this dress? What a shame. It needs to be presented, Marinette, it's really remarkable.", with another quick glance to Adrien he chuckled, "I'm sure your date doesn't mind if I kidnap you to a dance, hm?"

She quickly turned her head to Adrien but Silvio already pulled her towards him, leading her to the dance floor.

"A-Actually-", the blonde began before they vanished in the crowd and only reappeared on the slightly elevated dance floor. Silvio immediately took Marinette in his arms, pulling her closer. The song was slow enough to just sway a bit, talk a bit. Adrien furrowed his eyebrows as Marinette laughed, her face ignited by the Christmas decorations above the dance floor, trying to keep his heart still. Silvio said something else and she laughed again.

To say Adrien was jealous was an understatement. He was the son of the organizer so he had to greet a few people and who did this Italian idiot think he was?

Marinette was his date and even if she didn't seem too fond of playing the part, Adrien certainly had lost all interest in acting anything. He had actually wanted to talk to her like Silvio did just now, dancing with her to say how sorry he was and if she would like to go on a real date with him.

Ever since he had gone shopping with her as Chat Noir it had itched him to ask her out.

Damn… Telling her this was a fake date had been wrong.

Silvio let go of her to let her spin around and caught her again, grinning as she smiled, the lights playing tricks on her beautiful face. Adrien growled.

This bastard had called her 'lady'. He had openly flirted with her even _after_ Adrien had introduced her as his date. He had downright stolen Marinette from his arm and now she was just about to fall in love with him because he thought he was oh so cool.

If this wasn't a party his father had organized and if this wasn't a room full of very important people, Adrien would have straight up forgot himself, let his Chat Noir out and ran on the dance floor to rescue Marinette from that oh so cool guys with swept back hair and shiny teeth.

Well, he couldn't blame Marinette.

He knew Silvio modelled his own designs so he knew how to talk and move like a model. To look like a model. It was easy to fall for a model on first sight.

The young man dipped Marinette down and she giggled as he held her for a while, saying something at which Silvio now laughed. She probably talked about how he needed a rose between his oh so white teeth that sparkled in the light.

They straightened up again and the song got faster, forcing a few couples to step down to make room for the more talented dancers. Well, Adrien hadn't expected anything else from Silvio as he sped up with the music, now beginning to swirl Marinette around with more practiced moves. What really make his jaw go slack, though, was the fact that Marinette could dance like there was no tomorrow.

She fell into every step that Silvio indicated, swirling and keeping her balance as if she had been born on the dance floor, with the ballerinas that she wore placed into her crib.

The shy girl who sat behind him, clumsy enough to fall down some stairs at least once in a week, sweet Marinette who always kept her gaze down around him, was rocking the dance floor.

She laughed freely as Silvio indicated another swirl, going up to her tip toes to do two spins before letting herself fall back, to be caught by the Italian designer.

He was there to catch her and immediately did a step to the side, lifting her around him to let her on her feet again only to continue dancing like this, the lights getting caught in the movements of her dress. His hands flew to her hips and he lifted her up before putting her down again, letting her spin into his arms and out again.

Adrien had never been so in awe.

But as she let herself fall into Silvio's arms again, laughing with him, something inside Adrien snapped. The man looked over to him and winked.

That. Was. It.

He had been robbed of his date, he had been left alone to stand there, lost like an idiot and he had been downgraded to the jealous faker. Oh no. Not with Chat Noir.

He could feel Plagg patting his chest as his feet began moving through the crowd, careful not to bump against someone. He didn't care anymore, this was enough.

He was one of the damn superheroes of Paris. It would've been a shame if he didn't act if someone just stole his girl from him.

His chest tightened from possessiveness as Marinette giggled, her high, clear laugh now audible to him as he got closer to the dance floor.

She was his and he would let her know. Most of all, he would let Silvio Alesio know, this damn, slick Italian who thought he was so great. Damn womanizer, fucking idiot who thought he could fool Chat Noir and rob him of his Princess.

With a few quick jumps Adrien was on the dance floor, behind the pair. He moved to the side, timing when Silvio would spin Marinette again. He did.

And just as Silvio let go of her, Adrien caught her. Marinette blinked up to him as she bumped against his chest, confused and surprised. He wrapped his arms around her and grinned at the dumbstruck Italian.

"Allow me this dance, Marinette?"

He waited for her to nod before he started moving in the rhythm of the music, adjusting his hands on her so that he could properly dance. She was a bit out of breath, still confused as to where he had suddenly come from.

"A-Adrien?"

He was a little bit busy with glaring at Silvio to leave the dance floor, what the Italian hesitantly did. Only then he looked down at her.

"Yes?"

"Why did you, uhm-… Interrupt my dance with-… Well…?"

He huffed, sending another glare after Silvio even though he had long disappeared in the crowd.

"He was too close to you.", the blonde briefly explained, without even thinking about her. She hadn't heard his thoughts, didn't know how she had begun corrupting his mind, making him space out at school.

"Too-… Too close to me?", she asked, her movements getting slower. Adrien made eye contact again, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah. Too close, too-… I dunno. I didn't like how he looked at you. Like you were some _object_.", he spat out, disgusted. Though he didn't realize how deeply these words hit her.

Well, not because she was disappointed of Silvio. She had known she certainly wasn't the only girl he talked to like that, danced with like that. It had been a game, honestly, almost a test. To see how she could go along.

But Adrien telling her she had been looked at as if she was an object, when he had been the one to ask her to act out a fake date? She parted from him, her face set and tense.

"I-… I have to go get some fresh air…", she murmured, leaving the dance floor and aiming for the balcony to cool down.

Meanwhile, Adrien couldn't do anything else but watch as the Christmas lights shone above, almost mocking him that Silvio had gotten the beautiful dance with his girl.


	21. Freezing - Marichat

**Part 3 of 5! Yay!**  
 **And I'm on time again!**

* * *

"Marinette, are you okay?", Tikki asked as she flew out of her purse, a worried expression on her small face.

"Y-Yeah, I'm just-… Ugh, Tikki, this is all so wrong…"

The little Kwami nodded sympathetically, nuzzling Marinette's cheek as her chosen sniffled another time. Marinette held her close but then gently pulled her away to cup her hands around the Kwami.

"You're gonna be cold if you stay out in the open for too long, Tikki. I know how bad you take the cold."

Tikki shrugged and hugged Marinette's thumb closer, closing her eyes.

"I'm warm, I've had plenty of warmth in there. Don't worry about me."

The girl chuckled, softly brushing over Tikki's head. She brought her up to her face again, nuzzling her tiny friend.

"But I have to worry about you. You're so small and probably freezing and-… If I didn't worry about you I'd probably cry. I don't wanna ruin my make up."

Tikki hummed and they remained in this position for a while, just letting Marinette cool off and calm down again, until they suddenly heard a voice speaking up.

"P-Princess?", someone asked and Marinette quickly put her hands, with Tikki, down to the other side. She was really glad it had just looked like she was burying her face in her hands, otherwise this could've gone very wrong.

"Uhm-… Wh-What?"

She turned to the direction where the voice had come from and slightly recoiled as she saw Chat Noir sitting on the railing of the balcony, a worried expression on his usually so cheerful face.

"Princess? Are you okay?", he asked and slid down from the railing to carefully step towards her, his shoulders pulled up. Maybe he wasn't used to girls crying. Or maybe it was just her, "I, uh-… Am I interrupting something? I just-… I passed this place and I saw you here and-… It looked like you were crying…"

Marinette gulped, feeling Tikki phasing into her purse unseen, then she shook her head.

"N-No, I'm not crying! Uhm-… It's okay, Chat. I just-… I needed a moment alone."

He tilted his head at her appearance, then he looked to the side, narrowing his eyes at the party inside.

"… Did someone hurt you? I'll punch them.", he finally said, growling a little. Marinette quickly shook her head again, quicker this time.

"No, no! No-… It's just-… Nobody really hurt me… I'm just-… Ugh, no, it's okay… I shouldn't talk to you like that…"

He reached her now, lifting one hand to gently place it on her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze.

"I'm here…", he said, "I'm here and you can talk to me… I wanna help you…"

She sighed, leaning against him for support. She always felt so natural around him. His arms wrapped themselves around her body and he held her as she trembled, willing herself not to cry.

"You must be freezing.", he commented, having her snort at that. It was obvious she wasn't cold since her cheeks were still reddened from the warm room that sh had just left. He chuckled as well, brushing over her back, "So, Princess, who do I have to throw in jail?"

She huffed, carefully leaning her face against his shoulder not to smudge her make up. She was just glad she had stood in a more hidden corner of the balcony so that nobody would see right away that Adrien Agreste's date was hugged by Chat Noir. Now that would make the media curious…

She bit her lip as she thought back.

 _Adrien's date_ , that was right…

"I-… I'm here with a boy…", she began, sniffling again. Chat Noir growled at that and she couldn't help but smile at her possessive kitty, "Relax, Chat. It's just-… You know, that boy asked me to be his fake date for this party… His father wanted him to bring a date and I was a substitute for him to use. I mean, that's okay, we're friends and I guess it's a favor but-… If Adrien had asked anyone else, Alya, Sabrina, I dunno, then-… Then it would've been okay. But I was-… Well-… First of all I wasn't prepared… And-… And, well, there are certain circumstances that made it really hard for me to play the part…"

He didn't reply for quite some time before finally whispering, his voice so soft she had the feeling he was petting a kitten and talking to it.

"… What made it so hard for you?", he asked and she sighed, her hands now slowly coming up to lock themselves around his waist, one of her hands wrapping itself around her other wrist.

"I-… I'm in love with him, Chat…", she felt how he tensed and had to smile once again at how possessive he was, "I'm in love with him and-… I didn't tell him. He didn't know. We're friends, have always been. Nothing more than that. Lately I've noticed that-… He spaced off in the lessons, getting this lovestruck expression that I always get when thinking about him."

Chat trembled by now and she had to grin a little.

"You must be freezing, Chat.", Marinette cheekily commented but he didn't react to that. Only then it occurred to her that he was upset. She leant back and saw his jaw set and his eyes hard, th same expression she had seen on Adrien as she had talked to Silvio.

"Chat?"

"You-… You're in love with him?", he choked out and she caressed his cheek, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Chat, are you okay?", he glanced to the side before huffing, catching her gaze again.

"You-… You said you're in love with him… Did you mean that? And-… H-How did you feel when-…", he squinted his eyes before opening them again, "Please-… Please answer…"

She was a little dumbstruck and confused but he looked so desperate, so upset.

"I, well-… It hurt. It hurt really badly… But he needed me. He needed me to be a good friend so I agreed… And-… and then I met Silvio and-… He's everything I wanna be. Successful while still so young, talented and already renowned, despite his age. And-… I guess while I was star struck, I-… I dunno, I let him have his fun. I danced with him, well, he practically pulled me to the dance floor and-… It was so fun, it was relieving after the horrible start of the evening, so-…"

She didn't realize how each word hit him like a bullet and just continued talking.

"… Well, I danced with him and I felt free for once and-… I felt beautiful and talented with him that I hadn't felt next to Adrien and-… Next thing I know is that Adrien's interrupting the dance and acting all weird and-… Almost overprotective, you know? Like a father who doesn't allow boys to turn their heads after his daughter. I-… I asked him why he did that and he said Silvio had looked at me like an object.", she sighed heavily, leaning her forehead against Chat's chest. He numbly hugged her again, his green eyes lost in the dark as he replayed the evening with the important aspect of her having a crush on him. He gulped, his chest feeling tight.

"But, well-… I knew Silvio wouldn't ever be a partner for me. He knew that as well. We just had our fun, it was like-… An entry to this new world that I wanna be a part of. Dancing with a young designer just-… I know it made room for my future. I know I've been seen now, not only by Silvio but also a lot of others. He-… It was basically a business dance. We talked about it while we danced, actually. We both know there's nothing romantical about that. Well, he flirted a bit but that's just teasing, I guess… Well, we actually talked about how he'll make sure to make my name known if I still decide to take the path of a fashion designer after school."

"A-And…?", he finally whispered, his voice lost to his guilt.

"Well… When-… When Adrien said Silvio saw me as an object-… He couldn't have been more wrong. I-… He failed to see that I've been the object for him the whole evening long. While-… While Silvio saw the human, saw the designer I could become. It's just-… It was so, so wrong of Adrien to-… Assume I had been the object to Silvio when he had asked me to be his fake date for the evening!"

Chat pressed his lips together and didn't say anything while Marinette desperately tried to keep her tears in. She sniffled a few times but finally she calmed down, now really feeling the cold.

She began trembling and snuggled closer to Chat, seeking his warmth.

But his arms were still loose and his body was without any strength. Had he become so upset with how her evening had gone? She propped her chin up on his chest, looking up to him.

"Chat? You okay?"

"… You're freezing.", he replied after a few moments, not meeting her gaze. His voice was free from all teasing, "You-… You should wait here for a moment, then go inside. I'll grab this Adrien and kick his butt to talk to you."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head as Chat parted from her.

"No, no, wait! Don't tell him about my crush! Please! Please don't do anything to him, I-… I don't want you to."

He finally met her eyes again, green slashing at blue but halting before any damage could be done. His gaze softened suddenly and she once again felt like she was the calming kitten.

"Okay, I won't tell him and I won't do anything to him. But I'll make sure he regrets using you like this."

She gulped as he sent her a swift gesture as a goodbye, then set off, over the roof and away. In contrary to his advice she didn't wait a bit and then return. Marinette immediately stormed inside, calming her steps as she was through the doors but her gaze never slowing down. She scanned the hall from the top of the flight of stairs that led up to the balcony and gulped when she finished her search.

Adrien wasn't here.


	22. Silent Night - Adrienette

**Part 4 of 5, next one is the last of this mini arc ;)**

* * *

Marinette stepped down from the fight of stairs, searching around in the room. Adrien didn't speak with anyone, was not at the buffet, didn't get himself something to drink. He was gone.

Maybe she should check the hallways?

She didn't even want to imagine what Chat Noir would do to Adrien if he had really dragged him off.

When had it been a good idea again to tell this stupid cat everything? Yeah, right, it hadn't been.

She walked to the buffet where she briefly met Silvio again, apologizing for Adrien's weird behavior. He merely smiled and shrugged it off, offering her another dance for the night which she agreed to, but only after finding Adrien again. She had really enjoyed dancing with the Italian, and especially their conversation while the slower part of the dance. Silvio was a smart man and he could help her.

Marinette now went for the doors, stepping out into the big hallway that led to the foyer in the front of the building. She sighed as she couldn't spot Adrien here as well, just a few people who had searched for a quieter place. She also suspected that behind the opposite door laid a room that Gabriel Agreste had also rented, with poker and stuff. Chat Noir surely wouldn't drag Adrien off to there… Maybe the men's toilets?

She began walking down the hallway away from the foyer as suddenly, a voice called for her.

"Marinette!", she turned around and saw Adrien jogging towards her, his blonde hair tousled and his eyes worried, "Marinette, wait!"

She came to a halt, turning fully to him and inspecting him of anything that she should know about. Just in case, to know if she had to make this mangey alley cat a living puncake later.

Oh _god_ , had she just-… Yeah, anyway…

"Marinette, I was worrying about you! I, uh-… You were off so quickly and I, uhm-…"

"Are you okay?", she countered his babbling, grabbing his arms and looking up and down on him, "Oh god, I'm so, so sorry, I-… I was on the balcony and Chat Noir came by and he asked me if something was the matter and I told him and he wanted to talk to you. Was he rude? Did he do something he'll regret? Oh, I'll make sure Ladybug knows about this, I-"

"What?", he interrupted her with a laugh, then shook his head, "Oh, oh, that… Yeah, I was just out of the ballroom when he showed up and talked to me. He wasn't rude, don't worry. He was just-… It was eye opening. That's all. Uh, please don't tell Ladybug?"

She gulped, not wanting to meet his eyes as she pulled her hands back, her face burning of embarrassment that this damn cat had really talked to Adrien about her feelings. Good thing Ladybug already knew about this.

"What-… What did he-… S-Say?"

Adrien sighed, rubbing the back of his head, and looked around to see a few guests watching them.

"Let's-… Let's go somewhere else for that? Somewhere more silent?"

She nodded, hesitantly taking his offered arm to let him lead the way. He walked past the ballroom and into the other room which was something like a lounge in contrary to her assumption that some old men played poker here.

Adrien walked them to a quieter corner, taking a seat on a small table and politely declining the offer of a waiter to bring them something. Marinette took her seat across from him and suddenly noticed that Adrien had deliberately chosen a table on which the view on them was mostly covered.

They stayed awkwardly quiet like this but before they could continue their silent night like how it had already started, Marinette decided to speak up.

"Uhm, so-… What-… What did Chat Noir tell you? I-I swear, you can't trust him on most things! I probably didn't say half of what he told you!"

The blonde model merely smirked, shaking his head and leaning onto the table. He rubbed over his chin and nervously looked up, then he caught her gaze again.

"No, he-… I don't think he said anything too personal. W-Well, I hope. He just-… Kicked my butt by scolding me that I dared to take such a beautiful young lady out on a, well, uh-… Fake date."

Marinette snorted, her face probably burning in the deepest shade of red that she ever had, hiding her face in her hands.

"These're his words alright, I can practically hear him saying that… Gosh, Adrien, I'm so sorry you had to deal with him. I'm really, really sorry, I didn't ask him to do that. I-… I tried holding him back but I guess he was too upset. That cat really has the need to save the whole world…"

Adrien seemed almost shy now, crossing his arms on the table and biting his lip.

"Uh, well… But I, well-… You shouldn't apologize. I should. And I am! I-… I'm so sorry, Marinette. Chat was right, I-… I acted like a complete idiot. I-… I should have made this a real date all along. I actually planned to, even before _Silvio_ asked you to dance.", his voice turned into a snarl as he said the Italian's name, "I really was an idiot… I wanted to ask you out before and this would've been the perfect opportunity but of course I completely messed up… I mean, what was I even thinking, asking you to be my fake date when, when looking so-… So beautiful and-… Ugh, I just made a fool out of myself… I'm so sorry…"

Little did he know that had stopped working as soon as he had apologized. She had barely been able to listen to him admitting he had wanted to ask her out before over the rushing of her blood and it only got worse as her vision began swimming. When he finally looked up he recoiled, then immediately slid over to the seat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and leaning her against him to steady her.

"Marinette! Oh god, I'm so sorry, I-… Uh, you look like you're about to faint, I knew I shouldn't have burst it out like that! Do-… Do you need water? Or an ambulance? I can call an ambulance, no problem, I can immediately call and ambulance and a helicopter and-"

She managed shaking her head at his rambling and when he abruptly shut up she even choked out a few words in a very high, panicky voice.

"Uh-… N-No… Just-… W-Water, maybe…?"

He quickly nodded, overly eager to fulfill her wish. He jumped up and bolted away towards the bar, asking for a big glass of water. She tried breathing through after he had left, focusing on the tablecloth in front of her.

In… And out… In… And out…

"Marinette?", a voice whispered, way smaller and higher than Adrien's. Also, it came from her hip, "Marinette, are you okay?"

The girl smiled and inconspicuously patted her purse, her breathing getting deeper and slower and the feeling slowly returning to her fingers.

"Yeah, I'm-… I'm getting there. I just gotta breathe a bit."

"Quite a bomb he dropped there…", her little Kwami commented, pushing against Marinette's hand to comfort her, "Are you gonna be okay with continuing to talk to him?"

Marinette paused, looking up to see Adrien gesturing on the bar counter, his hair flying as he pointed to their table.

"I-… I think so, yes. He's-… He seems really sorry, though, I don't quite-… Well, him babbling about wanting to, uh-…"

Tikki snuggled tighter against her hand through the purse and even buzzed a little, making Marinette's heart calm down instantly. Her Kwami just had that kind of effect on her.

"Marinette, please remember that you can leave at any time, okay? If you feel like you need to you can leave at any time you want."

The girl nodded, smiling.

"I know, don't worry. It doesn't seem like I'll have to, though. I-… I actually want to talk this out. As soon as I don't feel well I'm sure he'll let me go if I want."

"Marinette?", a deeper voice now sounded and Adrien reappeared, holding a big glass of water for her, "Are you, uh, feeling better?"

She managed a shaky smile and nodded, taking the glass from him and drinking a big gulp. The nervousness that Tikki hadn't been able to take faded with the cool water and as she set the glass on the table, Adrien sitting in front of her again, she felt way better. Still, there was something to talk about…

"So, uh, Marinette… I-… I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable. I, uh-… I can go and, well, uh, escort you home or-… You go back to the party and talk to a few people and, uhm-…"

"Oh, you mean like Silvio?", she grinned, actually winning back some of her wittiness to tease him. Somehow, after her conversation with Chat Noir, she found it really easy now to talk to Adrien.

"No, not _him_!", Adrien growled, sending a glare to the door as if Silvio already waited there to steal her again, "Anyone but that smug Italian womanizer who thinks he's so great with his swept back hair and white teeth and slick behavior and-"

Marinette giggled at Adrien's immediate response to the other man, shaking her head.

"Yeah, how horrible he is for asking me to which university I wanna go. Or if I need a good word in this industry. Or if he can introduce me to a few people who helped him immensely. What a horrible, horrible, selfish man for wanting to support me."

Adrien's mouth snapped close like a sea shell and he became beet red while Marinette giggled a bit more, then she took another sip from her water.

"… I could also introduce you to people who could help you immensely…", he mumbled, crossing his arms and glaring towards the door, probably trying to hit Silvio in the other room with the daggers he shot out of his eyes. Marinette laughed, shaking her head.

"I have no doubt, Adrien, really."

He grinned as he looked at her again, his eyes becoming softer.

"Sorry…", he sheepishly chuckled, one of his hands flying to the back of his head. She grinned and shook her head.

"Don't worry, it's okay. But, uhm-… About the date thing…"

He sank into himself and sighed, his hands both resting on the table again. After a moment he looked up to her, such an adorable begging expression on his face that she couldn't help but reach over, placing her hands over his.

"Well, I-…", he began, his ears already shining in a bright red, "I meant what I said before… I'm not so sure you actually heard that because, well, I seemed to have shocked you, but, uhm-… I'd-… I actually wanted to have you as a date, I was just too awkward and probably too confused and naive and I only realized I was really, really wrong when you, well-… When you weren't you as soon as the party started… I-… I realized I wanted more and I should've given you the chance to, well, uh-… Make it certain for me."

She tilted her head as Adrien slowly took a gentle hold of her hands, blinking in surprise.

"Make it-… Certain for you? What?"

He sighed, biting his lip. Then he obviously came to a big decision he had to take. As he locked their gazes again she could see he had made the decision.

"Well… I was in love with Ladybug. It was-… Probably more of a celebrity crush… Since she never really reciprocated my feelings. I, uh, I was a fool to think she'd ever love me… But then I, well, I began seeing you. And I guess-… I guess I fell in love with you at some point, I dunno when. When I think back now it feels like it's been from the first moment on and because of that I was confused… I tried not to think about it because it irritated me how-… Unnoticeable such a crush can grow and how long it can stay so… I should've taken the chance for you to make it certain for me. To, well, kinda give me the reassurance that I didn't have to deny anything when looking at you…"

Marinette didn't exactly know why she skipped the freaking out part.

Probably because Tikki pressed herself against her hip through the purse, buzzing softly to keep her calm. Or because everything Adrien had said was so raw and honest that she didn't even have the thought to freak out. Maybe she also was just a tiny bit relieved that the crush on the other girl that she had suspected Adrien to have, had been on herself all along. Well, on her superhero persona, but how was that really different from herself?

Maybe she was also just a bit, just a teeny tiny bit, absolutely relieved that Adrien was ready to have the same feeling for her, after such a long time of pining after him and being awkward and stuttering and making Alya laugh at her and facepalming herself and causing Nino to talk about her with Adrien in an attempt to make him notice her and-…

She smiled, her cheeks beginning to hurt.

"Let's see if I can make it certain for you then, hm?"


	23. Mistletoe - Lovesquare

**And here it is, part 5!**

* * *

Marinette and Adrien returned to the party with her arm in his again, but this time she really held on to him. Before, her hand had been loose, now it itched to just slide down and interlace their fingers.

He grinned as they entered the ballroom again, briefly nodding to his father, then he looked down to Marinette.

"May I have this dance?"

She giggled, nodding at him to lead her to the dance floor. It was a slow dance so Adrien grabbed her by her hips, gently beginning to sway in tact to the music as she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her temple against his shoulder. He smiled, his hands sliding around her waist to rest in the small of her back, holding her closer. She hummed, sighing contently.

Adrien slowly swayed them over the dance floor, keeping his attention up not to dance into other couples while she just enjoyed being held by him. One of his hands slid up further, then he leant his cheek against her head.

"Hey Marinette?", he asked and she nodded slowly to indicate she was listening, "Are you happy?"

She smirked, one of her hands shifting up to bury her fingers in his hair. He silently moaned in delight, feeling a light shiver running down his spine.

"Yeah, I am…", she replied, "Actually I'm very happy right now, yes."

He chuckled, continuing to dance with her until the song stopped, then he went to the side, softly parting from her. She looked up to him, questioningly, but he merely shook his head, getting off the dance floor with her. He led her to the balcony where she had gone to before, asking her to go outside. She furrowed her eyebrows, watching him as he stepped forward to the railing, closing his eyes before looking at her again.

"Marinette, I-… I just want to make sure you-… You know about this. Before anything starts."

She frowned, moving to stand next to him. He took her hands and brushed over her knuckles, then he interlaced their fingers.

"Listen, uhm-… I want to be honest to you. I-… I actually need to be honest to you, otherwise I-… Wouldn't want me to be on your side. Uhm, I-… I wanna tell you something and-… It's probably gonna be a shock but please, please bear with me here, okay?"

She was even more confused now but she nodded, gesturing him to continue. He took a deep breath, then he grinned sheepishly.

"Well… Chat Noir didn't meet me. He, well, uh, he never met me."

Okay, now that was some grade A bullshit. Marinette knew she had talked to him and she knew Adrien had told her he had talked to Chat Noir. Had he been lying to her? Had he improvised to be cooler for her? But how had he known all the stuff she had told Chat Noir?

"Did you-… What? I mean-… Did you lie to me, Adrien?"

He quickly shook his head, confusing her even more.

"No, no! I didn't lie to you. Okay, well, yes I did, because Chat Noir didn't talk to me, but, hear me out. I, uh-… I know you have a crush on me…", her eyes went wide and she was about to scream but he quickly continued, "B-Because-… You told me."

"I told you?!", she snapped, all of this getting just a bit too confusing for her, "When?!"

"Well… This evening.", he admitted, his smile sheepish and his hands in hers trembling of nervousness.

"I never-", she began but even before she could finish that sentence she knew what he was talking about. She had told him and he had never met Chat Noir. Of course…

That's why she had felt so comfortable talking to him all of a sudden, after her conversation with Chat. That's why he had known exactly what had been going on. That's why he-… Was such an idiot. Well, that was her kitty for her.

Suddenly, she spoke to her partner, not the blonde model boy anymore.

"… You know I'm gonna kick your butt for this?"

He gulped, nodding.

"And you know Ladybug's gonna have a long talk with you about revealing to random citizens?", she glared at him and he got just a little more uncertain.

"U-Uhm-… Probably…? B-But you're no random citizen to me, I, uh, I was-"

"Hush. Do you understand that?", she snapped and he nodded, "Good, then listen closely. Adrien, you do not reveal to random citizens. It's dangerous and you could never know what I could do with that information. I could be anybody! My best friend is the head of the Ladyblog! And you didn't even console me to reveal! You just-… You just did! Adrien, it's dangerous and you could've landed anywhere by now! I could've-"

"W-Wait-…", he softly interrupted her, his eyebrows narrowed, "Y-You said Ladybug's gonna hold that speech so why are-…"

"Yes, I said that and you gotta listen. Now, where was I? Oh yeah. You were rash and careless and you don't have a sense for security and safety, you stupid cat! You could've gotten hurt, you could've ended in Nadja Chamack's seat and everyone would know about your secret and-"

He once again interrupted her, his eyes now wide and his jaw slack.

"Y-You're-…"

"Yes and now damnit, Chaton, lemme finish. You do not reveal to citizens like that. There's a reason why I told you not to reveal! It's to protect yourself, don't you have any sense in your stupid chesire head? I'm really, really-"

Her words were suddenly cut off and she was very surprised to find that something was on her lips. Something warm, moving and soft. A little vanilla taste, from a lip balm she knew all too well. That she had fantasized about tasting before. Adrien was pressed against her, the kiss tasting sweet and his warmth feeling amazing in contrary to the rather freezing night air.

He only unwillingly parted, grinning like she knew it from her partner. Widely and absolutely not model-like.

"… In love with me?", he guessed, laughing.

"… Also, that. Yes.", she admitted, blushing as her knees got a bit wobbly, "Get your head out of the clouds, kitty, because even if I think you're ridiculously cute, I'm still mad at you about just revealing to _someone_. I set up the secret identity rule for a reason, you know?"

"Yeah, but _purr_ not just someone.", he smirked smugly, his face practically shining of joy.

She rolled her eyes, softly pushing him back on his nose in an all too familiar gesture.

"Aaaaaaand I'll suffer under puns. Of course. I guess that's the price I gotta pay."

"Hey, you know you love it!"

She laughed, cupping his cheek now to shake her head.

"Absolutely not. Also, mister, you're overly smug for a guy who found out about my crush before he should've known. After all you were the confused one and asked me for a fake date. I say you owe me."

Adrien laughed, leaning his forehead against hers and nuzzling his nose on hers.

"Do kisses count?", he asked, already placing a little peck on her cheek.

"Maybe.", she smirked but before he could lean in to pay his debt she held him back, beginning to motion something above their heads. He furrowed his eyebrows, watching her quickly moving index finger, then he looked down to her again, a questioning expression on his face.

"What are _mew_ doing, my lady?", he asked.

"Drawing a mistletoe.", she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "'Cuz, you know, your father is a great organizer and all, but every Christmas Party needs a mistletoe."

He chuckled as he watched her draw in the air with nothing but her fantasy, feeling himself falling for her over and over again every second.

"Wait, you forgot the ribbon.", he laughed, drawing a very sloppy ribbon over her mistletoe, then he grinned down to her, "There. We got it. Can I kiss you now?"

"You can.", she giggled just before he pressed his lips onto hers again.


	24. Christmas Eve - Ladynoir

**Sorry, I was super busy with Christmas.**  
 **But here's the last two prompts!**

* * *

"Sorry I'm late, kitty, my parents are going crazy with Christmas preparations…", Ladybug greeted her partner with a quick kiss, then she sat down next to him, "Did you wait for too long?"

He shook his head, managing a smile.

"Ah, no. Maybe a few minutes, my lady."

She leant against him, resting her head on his shoulder with a happy smile.

"Hawkmoth's been silent, lately. I'm glad even he understands what Christmas means."

Chat grabbed her hand that rested in her lap, sighing as he interlaced their fingers.

"Yeah… Maybe…"

A small moment of silence rested between them, then she looked up to him, lightly squeezing his hand.

"… You okay?"

He huffed, pressing his lips together and looking off in the distance, obviously not wanting to meet her gaze. Instead of worried she now grew annoyed, furrowing her eyebrows before lifting one.

"Adrien Agreste.", she began in a scolding tone, "You tell me right now what's bothering you on Christmas Eve."

He grumbled, shaking his head.

"Adrien, c'mon. I don't want you to be sad on Christmas!"

He huffed, then forced himself to grin, turning to look down at her.

"You missed a pun. What's _bugging_ me on Christmas, get it?"

She gave him a very, very long scolding gaze. Her eyebrows furrowed together and her piercing blue eyes drilled a sharp gaze right into his. He gulped.

"Adrien."

His name in this tone was enough for him to slide away from her, flop down on his stomach and rest his forehead on her thigh, wailing comically loudly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, my lady, but I couldn't get an appropriate Christmas present for you, I'm so, so sorry! I searched and I wracked my brain over this and I couldn't, I just couldn't find anything!"

Her angry mood vanished within the second and she laughed, patting his head. His arms slowly wrapped themselves around her waist and he whined as her slender fingers worked through his blonde locks.

"Aww, kitty cat…", she giggled, brushing his hair away from his face so he could turn his head to the side, "It's not that bad, you know?"

He grumbled, nuzzling closer to her and letting his claws brush over her lower back to make her shiver a little. She giggled, getting the same effect with him when she scratched up the back of his head to his cat ears.

"But I wanna make my girlfriend proud…", he murmured, only to have her bending down and kissing his temple.

"Oh Chaton, I am proud of you… And happy to be with you. And ever since the ball you tried to spoil me anyways, so don't worry. Besides – you already gave me a Christmas present."

He turned around to lay on his back, furrowing his eyes while looking up to her.

"I already gave you a Christmas present?"

"Yeah, you were my Secret Santa, remember? A cinema gift card."

He rolled his eyes, but she cupped his cheeks and grinned, squishing his face a little.

"I loved it. And you also gave me a really big Christmas present."

Once again, he gave her a questioning look and she squished his cheeks together to pucker his lips. Then she leant over to give him a little peck, giggling.

"Which one?", he asked against her lips, "… I don't remember giving you another?"

"Well, you yourself.", she answered, her breath mingling with his, "I love you, Chaton."

He grinned and sat up to kiss her back. She buried her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer, grinning against his lips – until she felt something wet on her skin.

She didn't think of it as something bad, at first. It could've been snow.

But it rolled down her cheek and reached her lips. Only then she realized it was salty.

Ladybug quickly opened her eyes and parted from Chat to see his eyes reddened and tears leaking from them.

"Chat?", she asked, now worried, and brushed the hair out of his face, "Chat, oh gosh, did I do something wrong? I'm so, so sorry Chat… I didn't mean to upset you. Adrien? Please, please don't cry…"

Much to her surprise he merely chuckled, shrugging and brushing the tears off. Then he shifted so he could pull her on his lap, resting his forehead on her cheek.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong, my lady. I just-… I kinda have nobody to come home to. Nathalie and the Gorilla are with their family, my father is who knows where again and-… You saying you love me is really relieving. These are tears of happiness, princess."

She hummed grumpily, her arms tightly locked around his neck. While looking off the roof, where she saw Notre Dame sitting enthroned above the city, she held him closer.

"… Come home with me.", she finally whispered, turning her head so she could press a little kiss to his forehead, "Maman and Papa will be thrilled to have you and I don't want you to be alone. We've got enough food for all four of us and you'll have it warm and with people who love you on Christmas Eve. To hell with your father."

He looked up to her, surprised, but her frown only deepened as she met his gaze.

"Come home with me.", she repeated.

Over the deepening blush he struggled to form coherent words but as they were out he couldn't help but feel like the happiest boy alive.

"… I am home, my lady."


	25. Merry Christmas - Adrienette

**Done!**  
 **I did it! One day late (as almost every drabble) but I did it!**  
 **Whoop!**

 **Note: FINALLY I CAN FKN UPLOAD! FFnet didn't let me, so sorry for the delay. But it seems to function now...**

* * *

"Merry Christmas, Adrien!", Tom's voice boomed from the kitchen as Sabine opened the door for him. Marinette had returned home through her balcony hatch because she officially hasn't been outside at all. She had gone down to her parents to tell them Adrien would join them and ten minutes later he had ringed the bell, according to plan.

Her parents didn't seem to notice.

Adrien smirked into the kiss Marinette gave him as if she hadn't just seen him. When they parted he hugged Sabine, wishing her a Merry Christmas as well. Then he went over to Tom. He hadn't considered how dangerous that was.

The giant man immediately threw his arms around him and hugged him heartily, laughing as he did. Adrien could merely cough out a greeting back at Tom since he was pretty sure his chest had now been reduced to a pancake.

"We're so happy to have you here, Adrien! Marinette told us what was going on at your home so she asked us if you could come join us.", Sabine chimed in as Tom set him down again, finally letting him breathe a little. He gave Marinette's mother a breathless smile, grateful as she placed a comforting hand on his back, "Nobody should be alone on Christmas."

"Thanks, Madame Cheng.", he mumbled, slowly getting his breathing right again. Tom clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"No, no, call us Tom and Sabine, please. You're part of the family, son."

Adrien was close to tears as Marinette joined, hugging him tightly.

"Uhm-… Thanks, Monsieur Dupain. Uh, no, uhm-… Tom?"

"That's right, son. And now, take a seat! Dinner's almost ready!"

Marinette smirked and led him to the table, taking the seat next to him. They left their fingers interlaced while watching Marinette's parents adding the finishing touches and bringing in the food. Adrien's eyes watered for real now as he saw all the delicious things they had prepared.

"Woah, that's-… I-I'm sure I'm not allowed to eat at least half of that!"

Marinette quickly shook her head, squeezing his hand.

"Today's your free day. It's Christmas and what your father doesn't see shouldn't bother him. He hasn't bothered showing up for you so you're free to eat what you want."

He leant in, nuzzling her temple softly.

"Thank you, princess… Thank you so much."

She giggled, parting their hands to grab her fork.

"You're welcome. And now dig in! You're welcome to eat as much as you want! It's Christmas!"

Adrien grinning brightly as he looked over the table, then he smiled at her parents.

"Thank you so much!", he repeated, obviously at a loss for words.

* * *

Later that evening, when all the presents had been unpacked and all the traditions were finished, Adrien and Marinette laid in her bed, looking up at the night sky. Their Kwami's had tightly embraced each other on the little pillow Marinette had placed on her night stand for them to snuggle with each other and all they could hear was them purring and buzzing a little.

The two humans were awake, cuddling with each other and honestly having more interest for their partner than the clear sky with the stars.

Marinette's hands were entangled in Adrien's hair and he held her close on her hips, a small smile playing on both their lips when they watched the stars twinkling above them. Their focus, though, laid on petting the other. Adrien's hand moved up and down her side and she scratched his head, her fingernails sending delicious shivers of delight through his whole body when she hit just the right spot.

In this moment they were alone in this world and they wouldn't want anything changing that. Because they enjoyed what they had gifted each other this year.

A true Christmas miracle.

"Merry Christmas, Adrien.", she whispered and he smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Marinette.", he replied.


End file.
